Mosaic
by FangirlingFanatic
Summary: Sebastian is engaged. But his fiance is abusive. He had tried telling people before, but no one believed him. But when Blaine brings it to Kurt's attention, will he do something about it? Will he be able to save Sebastian from his fiance? And after that, will he be able to fix him? Kurtbastian. Multiple plot arcs. Warning: rape, severe physical and emotional abuse.
1. Prologue

**I know, I know. I have other stories I should be writing and finishing. But I couldn't help it. I have the first six chapters of this story already written and I needed to see if anyone else liked it. I've never written anything like this, but I hope it's good. I love Glee, and these characters, so I hope I do them justice.**

**Enjoy!**

###

**_Prologue_**

"Sebastian, I swear to God if you don't shut the fuck up I'm going to kill you," Danny murmured as he flipped through the channels on their small TV.

Sebastian hugged his knees to his chest and bit into his lip. He hadn't meant to talk too much. His day had been a great one, and he had really been hoping Danny wanted to hear about it. Apparently he didn't, and Sebastian chastised himself for babbling too much.

Danny reached over and tugged at Sebastian's open shirt collar. "Button that up. No one wants to see your fat covered collarbone."

Sebastian felt his face heating. He hadn't been watching what he was eating recently. And while he knew he had gained a few pounds, he still thought of himself as lanky and thin, not fat. He reached down and gripped his stomach, there wasn't a lot to grab, but there was enough to lightly fold over his jeans.

"When's dinner?" Danny asked, finally settling on a football game.

Sebastian shrugged. "I haven't thought about it yet honestly. It isn't even five o'clock yet."

"Well, think about it, I'm getting hungry," he snapped.

Sebastian flinched. God, he was the worst fiancé ever. Danny had been working all day and he hadn't even thought of anything to cook him for dinner. Sebastian felt his eyes begin to burn. Not only was he fat and a horrible fiancé, but now he was a cry baby too.

He felt something hard crash against his cheek. "Stop crying, you're being ridiculous. Just go make me some dinner."

Sebastian wordlessly rose from the couch and headed for the kitchen. His face burned from where he'd been slapped, but it wasn't that bad. It wasn't going to bruise.

He made dinner quickly, knowing Danny's patience was wearing thin quickly. He looked in the little mirror that kept in the hall as the food cooled and saw that his face now had a red welt in the shape of Danny's hand. It hopefully would go away before tomorrow. He couldn't imagine the humiliation of trying to explain it to someone who asked. Hopefully no one would ask. Last time he tried to tell someone about Danny, a close friend back from his days at Dalton who had also made it to NYADA, and they'd outright laughed at him and called him an attention whore.

He'd never forget the humiliation.

"Is dinner ready?" Danny screamed from the living room.

"Yes," Sebastian replied. He set everything up on the table and sat down, waiting for Danny.

His fiancé came in the room, his hands running through his dark hair as he yawned. "I'm starving."

Sebastian sat silently for a good five minutes while Danny ate before daring to eat some himself.

Danny looked up. "What are you doing?" He looked irritated.

"I'm hungry too," Sebastian whispered.

Danny grabbed his plate and dragged it next to his own. "You can't eat that. You'll get even fatter. Go eat something better for you."

Sebastian felt his stomach clench. He was starving and the pasta smelled fantastic. He placed a hand over his lightly outlined abs. He used to be much more toned. Danny was right.

Danny was always right.

###

It was late at night. At least midnight. Sebastian's stomach was killing him. It wouldn't stop rolling and aching. He'd felt nauseous earlier, but he wasn't sure whether it was because his stomach was so empty, or because he was sick.

Danny rolled over and smirked when he realized Sebastian was still awake.

"Let's make some love tonight," he stated before shoving his hands up Sebastian's shirt and violently pressing his lips to the other boys.

Sebastian's stomach was revolting again. He needed to get to the bathroom before he threw up. He tried to pull away, but Danny's hands were digging into his lower back.

"Stop it," Danny hissed harshly.

"But-" Sebastian was cut off by Danny pinching his back, hard.

"Just shut up and kiss me," he went back to groping his boyfriend, his hands finding his boxers waistband, when Sebastian felt it.

He finally summoned the strength to rip his face from Danny's and retched all over the bed.

He coughed a few times, his stomach finally relaxing, before Danny swore.

"Shit! What the hell?!" Danny looked down at the vomit covered bed. Luckily none of it had gotten on Danny, but he was still pissed. He shoved Sebastian's shoulder, hard, slamming it into to the bed frame. He whimpered.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," he choked out. He knew it wouldn't matter, his fiancé was mad, and it was all his fault. He couldn't hold down his own food.

"Don't damn lie to me," Danny crawled out of the bed. "I'm going to use the bathroom. Clean up the sheets and replace them before I get back."

The scent hit his nose, raw and pungent, and he felt his stomach clench. He couldn't believe he'd just done that. He pulled himself up and felt his stomach double in on itself. God, he felt horrible.

He shakily pulled himself to his feet before yanking the blankets from the bed and balling them up. He took a few steps before his stomach curled up into a rock, causing him double over in pain. He whimpered.

"Make the bed, you douche bag! Your little episode is keeping me from sleeping!"

Sebastian would have murmured something about being sorry, but his jaws were locked together to keep him from crying out.

After a few seconds the pain dulled a bit, just enough for him to quickly stumble over to the washer and start it, the sheets spinning around noisily in the barrel. Danny always despised it when Sebastian had to do laundry at night. He made the bed up again and felt another wave of nausea hit him. He scrambled down the hallway and into the kitchen. He gripped the sides of the sink before retching again. Sebastian could feel his eyes burning. He swatted at them.

"Quit crying," he whispered to himself. He washed the sink down before sliding to the ground. He knew this would happen, every time he got sick, whether Danny had him induce it or whether he caught a virus, he almost never saw it coming. Some people got telltale cramps, or some sort of notion, Sebastian just skipped nausea and went straight to the throwing up part.

He knew Danny wouldn't let him get back in bed, so he got up off the kitchen floor and curled up on the couch.

###

"Kurt!" Rachel screamed after him. "Can you believe this? We open tonight!" She clutched his arm and shook it.

He smiled and rolled his eyes. He knew what today was. Anyone who had any clue of Rachel Berry's existence knew. "I just can't wait to have the apartment to myself for hours."

She rolled her eyes. "I won't be back to the apartment until really late so don't stay up."

"I wasn't going to anyway. I have work tomorrow and any sleep I can get is worth it." Rachel patted his arm before running off to her next class.

He smiled as he watched her push her way between other students, her long brown hair whipping back and forth. He was happy for her. He used to be decently jealous, but now he was just happy she was happy.

He scanned the crowd for a familiar face. He had a quarter hour until his next class. The only person he spotted that he even knew was Sebastian. He was listening to someone who was chatting animatedly with his fiancé, Danny. Sebastian had apologized once he found out Blaine and Kurt were going to the same school, it was sincere, and Kurt forgave him, but it didn't mean they had to be buddy-buddy.

Danny was laughing loudly, his arm around Sebastian's shoulders.

Kurt hadn't noticed before, but now that he was paying attention, he could see the bags underneath Sebastian's eyes. He had obviously tried to cover them with make-up but Kurt could tell.

"Hey Kurt," Blaine came up behind him. He had to stop himself from jumping.

He turned around. "Hey Blaine." They had broken up months ago, but they were still best friends.

Blaine must have noticed him staring Sebastian's way. "Did you hear what he told Daniel?" Daniel was another fellow gay from their stage combat class.

Kurt shook his head. "What?"

"He accused Danny of hitting him," Blaine whispered. Kurt couldn't help gasping a bit. When he thought of abusive boyfriends, the absolute last name he thought of was Danny's. He was sweet, funny, and didn't have a mean bone in his body. He could never imagine him hitting anyone, especially not someone like Sebastian.

"Why would he even make that up?" Kurt knew Sebastian loved attention, but claiming something like this was beneath even him.

Blaine shrugged and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "No clue. The thing is though, Daniel didn't believe him, but what if he was telling the truth?"

Kurt felt Blaine's words tug slightly at the back of his mind. What if he wasn't lying? "Why wouldn't he just leave him if that was true? Sebastian doesn't strike me as the kind to just roll over and get hit."

Blaine looked at Sebastian as he said it. "Because he might be scared to."

Kurt smiled a little. Blaine always saw the good in people, even people who used to drive them crazy. Kurt looked down. "Do you honestly think he was telling the truth?"

"Honestly, Kurt," Blaine looked up. "I don't know whether to believe him or not. I just know I won't be able to live with myself if he was telling the truth and I did nothing."

Kurt knew he would feel the same way. Not now, but sometime soon, he would get Sebastian alone and see for himself.

He risked one last look at him before saying good bye to Blaine and heading to class.

###

**So? What do you guys think? Seriously. Let me know. Like I said earlier, a lot of this is already written, so I can update it semi-frequently.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	2. Chapter 1

**Oh my gosh! I updated in two days! I know, I know! Thanks so much for the reviews over the last chapter, they motivated me to write!**

**Anyone else losing it waiting for more stuff to be revealed about Glee season 6? I hope Sebastian will show up for at least one scene, or that they will at the very least mention him. Thoughts?**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

###

**_Chapter 1_**

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Danny's fingers wrapped around his neck tighter. "Why are you spreading rumors around the school about me?"

Sebastian could feel his wind pipe beginning to collapse. "I'm sorry," he rasped.

"You're going to make it up to me," he released Sebastian and stormed off, slamming the bedroom door in his wake.

Sebastian fell to his knees and clutched his throat as he wheezed and coughed. Black and white splotches danced before his eyes. He knew he should get up, face fate willingly, but he couldn't. His knees were made of jelly and his arms couldn't seem to stop shaking. He felt completely helpless.

He closed his eyes and caught his breath. God, could he be any more of a screw up? First, he did almost everything he could incorrectly, especially around Danny, and then he goes and spills Danny's moment of rage to everyone at school? He was pathetic.

Interrupting his mental rant, suddenly he was being pulled to his feet by a fistful of hair. He winced, but bit into his lip hard enough that he didn't cry out.

He was tossed onto the bed and felt as his head collided with the head board, the loud thud ringing in his ears. He felt the warm body crushing his own before he could even reach up and grip the large bruise forming at the back of his head. A year ago he would've never let someone do this to him. He would've swore and shoved and screamed before he would let anyone even consider doing this. But he fought two years ago at Scandals, and it didn't help him at all. If anything, it just hurt him even more.

He refused to cooperate though, even when Danny gripped his wrists so tight he began to worry they were going to break. He kept begging, knowing trying to pull away would just result in getting beaten until he was too weak to fight anymore, but Danny just smacked him and went back to pleasing himself.

Sebastian felt as his clothing articles were removed and tossed off of the bed along with Danny's.

Danny forcefully rolled him onto his stomach before teasing him, making Sebastian's shoulders shake with sobs, he did not want this. He did not want this. All he wanted was to go to sleep.

With a quick thrust of Danny's hips, the pain exploded. He couldn't help it; he screamed. Danny quickly pulled himself out and clamped his hand roughly over Sebastian's mouth. "What the hell? Do you want the police to storm in here or something?"

Sebastian shook his head, the tears flowing down his face.

Danny sneered and removed his hand from Sebastian's face. "Stop being such a baby."

Sebastian could feel the fear and claustrophobia taking over. Danny had only done this to him twice before, one time when he decided midway he didn't want to and another time when he was so drunk he only figured it out the morning after. He had never had sex with Danny willingly.

Danny's body was resting so heavily on Sebastian's that he was struggling to breathe. Partially because of how much of Danny's body weighed. His mind was beginning to break down though, his eyes were redrawing the bathroom at Scandals. Suddenly Danny's hands felt harder and callused, suddenly his weight felt much heavier, but Sebastian couldn't escape. He was still pressed on his stomach, making kicking out with his legs impossible and his wrists were held down by the bigger hands. He could feel them beginning to bruise with each thrash, could feel the hands of his assaulter just clutching him tighter.

Danny ripped him open without a single warning and Sebastian was completely enveloped by the memory. He started to fight. He screamed and thrashed, trying fruitlessly to pull himself free of Danny.

"Please, please, don't! Just leave me alone," his throat was raw from screaming, his body sore from struggling.

"Just shut the hell up!" Danny growled as he continued. Sebastian could feel the tears running down his face freely, he could feel the tremors working their way up and down his spine. All he wanted was for it to be over, all he wanted was to be left alone.

He just wanted to be alone or loved, truly loved.

But that is not what he ended up getting. Danny violated him, violently. He gripped handfuls of the sheets and bite into his lip hard enough that he drew blood. It hurt so much, God it hurt so much.

Luckily it did not last too long though. Danny decided Sebastian wasn't worth his time anymore a few minutes later. He just walked into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.

Once Sebastian heard the telltale slam of the shower door, he shakily pulled a robe around himself and curled into a ball. He had wasted all of his tears already, but he still sobbed. The insides of his thighs were sticky, he felt disgusting.

But just to make things worse, someone banged on the door.

"Go get it!" Danny hollered from the bathroom.

Sebastian painfully slipped on some loose fitting underwear, a sweater, and a long pair of sweatpants. He loved the amount of room in the clothes, the air patches barriers between himself and the outside world.

He fixed his hair in the hall mirror and rubbed at the tear tracks staining his face. Good, now he just looked disheveled and tired.

He looked through the peep hole and was more than surprised to see a determined looking Kurt Hummel standing there.

He opened the door lazily, burying his hands into his sweater pocket to keep them from shaking. "What are you doing here, princess?" He asked, trying to keep up his false bravado.

Kurt smirked, most likely about to utter his clever comeback, when he seemed to notice Sebastian's appearance for the first time. He grimaced, "What happened to you? You look like you haven't slept in days."

Sebastian motioned for Kurt to back up so he could close the door behind himself and take their conversation into the brightly lit hallway of his apartment complex. "I'm fine. NYADA isn't made for the frail."

Kurt shook his head. "Sebastian, you look like you've been hit by a truck, not like you've had a few late nights." He readjusted his shoulder bag before looking Sebastian straight in the eyes. "I'm not here to talk about your sleeping habits. Is what you told Daniel true?"

Sebastian tugged at his sleeves as he bit into his lip, causing more blood to gush from the gash lining the inside. He couldn't decide what to say. If he claimed he lied, no one would ever believe him again and then he'd be stuck with Danny for the rest of his life. If he said he wasn't, and Kurt somehow helped him get away, Danny would still find him. They both went to NYADA, and even though they never shared classes, he'd still see him in the halls. And then Danny would hurt both of them. So he avoided the question altogether, "Why do you care, princess? You don't even like me."

Kurt looked almost angry. "We made up months ago. I'm not one to hold a grudge, you should know that better than anyone." He took a step closer, making Sebastian long to take a step back. Kurt's soft blue eyes were filled with a determination, one that Sebastian saw the first time he met him. "Don't you ever assume, even for a second, that I wouldn't help you. I would _never_ let anyone get abused, Sebastian, including you."

Sebastian felt his stomach sinking. He wanted to spill it all so badly, just tell Kurt his life story. But he couldn't, he couldn't just say all of it. No matter how much he wanted to. He shifted his shoulders, and saw Kurt's eyes widen and clamp his hands over his mouth.

"Oh my God, Sebastian, he did that to you?" Kurt threw his bag against the ground and softly pulled Sebastian's collar down.

He felt his cheeks go burgundy. No, Kurt couldn't find out like this. He tried to push his hands away, but Kurt was insistent. His eyes were hardening, even as a tear ran down his cheek and his fists clenched. "He did this to you, didn't he?"

Sebastian couldn't talk. He felt as Kurt softly ran his fingertips along the raised bruising from his fiancé almost strangling him. He could feel his eyes beginning to burn as well. He knew he couldn't lie, no he wasn't willing to. "I'm fine." He swatted at Kurt's hands but Kurt clung to his collar.

"No, you're absolutely not. What else did he do to you?" Kurt's fingers gently reached up and brushed some of his hair back from an older yellow bruise. "Why didn't you tell someone?"

Sebastian knew it was over, he knew he had no hope of getting away with anything anymore. He felt a tear finally escape his eye. It trickled down his face slowly, before dripping off his cheek and onto Kurt's sweater. "I did, but who was going to believe me?"

Kurt's eyes softened even more as he looked up into those sparkling, glassy green orbs. "Me," Kurt looked him over. "Is there anything else you absolutely need? I can grab the essentials at a drug store along the way."

"Along the way?" Sebastian hated the way his voice quivered. He wanted to smack himself, yell at himself for being so weak. Danny would be infuriated.

Kurt's mouth twitched downward a bit. "To my place. You're going to come live with me. Or I can help you leave New York if that's what you want. But you aren't staying here."

As foolish as it was, Sebastian let himself hope for a moment, just a flicker, that he could actually leave. But suddenly he could hear Danny's voice ringing in his head. _Why is he helping you? Everyone hates you. But Kurt, Kurt should hate you even more than anyone else._

Kurt softly grabbed his arm, his touch was light but Sebastian still hissed at the contact on his bruises. "Sebastian, we have to leave now. He could come out here any minute."

Sebastian nodded. He knew Kurt was right. But he couldn't seem to move.

The door opened and Sebastian could feel Kurt's grip tighten at the sight of his abuser.

Sebastian closed his eyes tight and felt as Kurt softly moved in front of him, his gaze making up for his lack of height. He was only a few inches shorter then Sebastian, but about half a foot shorter then Danny.

"Put a single finger on him and I swear I'll call the police." Kurt's finger hovered threateningly over the 911 call button.

Danny frowned convincingly, if Sebastian hadn't known him so well he would have actually believed that he was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Kurt closed his eyes and shook his head. "God, I can't believe that I actually believed Daniel! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Danny's face betrayed nothing, but the way his eyes darken and how tightly his fists were clenched betrayed it all. "Excuse you?"

"You hit him! No, who am I kidding, you abused him!" Kurt pulled down Sebastian's collar and glared at Danny so stonily Sebastian was surprised Danny hadn't turned into stone. "What kind of person does this to someone else? What kind of person does this to their fiancé?"

Danny took a step closer and his eyes looked from Sebastian's to Kurt's. "I don't how the hell that happened,"-he feigned concern making Sebastian's throat constrict- "but I've never hurt Sebastian. Even if I did, I would never do it if there wasn't a reason."

"What reason could that possibly be?" Kurt was screaming now. "Did he not _do something correctly? _There is never, ever an excuse to hit someone!"

Danny's threatening demeanor cracked, and a scarily calm one took over. "Sebastian, let's go back inside."

Sebastian could feel his body freeze. His breath caught and he couldn't see clearly. No, no, Danny was going to kill him now. He knew it. No no no, he couldn't go back inside.

Kurt didn't even twitch. If anything, he stood taller in front of Sebastian. "Leave him alone."

Danny's eyes wet even darker, and the beginning of a growl started in the back of his throat. "_Get inside the apartment right now._"

Sebastian wasn't even defying anymore, he could not move.

Until Danny grabbed him by his bicep and began to drag him into the apartment. Kurt tried to pull him free of Danny's grip but it was no use. Danny easily pushed him off and throwing Sebastian against the wall before tossing him onto the apartment's dirty carpet, slammed the door in Kurt's face.

###

"I'm on 19th street and I'm reporting domestic violence. Hurry, I think he's going to kill him," Kurt's voice was cracking despite the fact that he tried to stay cool. He ran a hand through his hair, God, he could hear random noises from the apartment. Shattering, whimpering, Danny's screaming, and the worst of all, Sebastian's begging. He had shoved, pulled, kicked and violently turned the door knob, but nothing worked.

He plugged his ears and paced back and forth, trying to think of a way to help. He decided to call Blaine. Blaine might be able to think of something.

"_Hello?"_

"Blaine, God, you picked up. I need your help."

"_Kurt? Are you okay? You're crying-"_

"Blaine, I'm fine. But I need you to get over here. I'm at Sebastian's apartment and God, Blaine, you were right. You were so right!"

He could hear him gasp. _"Is he okay?_ Kurt could hear Blaine scrambling for his stuff. _"Okay, okay, I'm on my way."_

Blaine hung up before Kurt could say more.

He heard footsteps pounding up the stairs moments later. Before he could fix his appearance even a little, police were pulling their guns out and kicking in the door. They rushed past Kurt in a blur of blue and tan, pistols pointed directly in front of their faces.

He could hear the sound of an ambulance in the near distance and prayed to God he wouldn't need it as he dared to step into the apartment.

The tight hallway was clean, with no evidence of anything besides a tiny circle of red along the wall no bigger than a finger print.

The bedroom wasn't though, blood and something else stained the sheets sporadically from what Kurt could see. He felt a sob bubbling up, but he clamped a hand over his mouth and swallowed it. He ran past the bedroom doorway and into the open kitchen and living room.

Danny's face was pressed to the carpet in the living room as he was told his rights. The sight in the kitchen was the one that broke Kurt's heart.

Weakly propped up against the wall, his legs sprawled as he pulled himself into a sitting position, was Sebastian.

His face was completely re-landscaped. A dark cut ran along the side of his face, blood trailing down his jaw from it. His eye was swollen absolutely shut. His top lip was split and his nose was bleeding.

Kurt ran over and gently placed his hand over the side of Sebastian's face that wasn't cruelly mutilated. Sebastian leaned into the touch and Kurt could feel when a single tear dripped from his swollen eye. "Hey, hey, you're going to be okay. I'm going to make sure of that."

###

**That last scene made me cry while I was writing it. My poor baby. :( Seriously though! I updated in two days! I'm very proud. Thanks for the incredibly encouraging reviews! They're the whole reason I updated so quickly! Love you guys!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm updating regularly, I know, it's insane! Hopefully I'll keep it up!**

**Enjoy!**

**###**

_**Chapter 2**_

Kurt had decided that waiting rooms had to be even worse than the ER. At least in the ER you could see what was happening, know whether they were okay or not. But the waiting room was just a nice name for a room full of uncertainty and pain.

Kurt kept clasping and unclasping his hands. Blaine's foot was making Thumper seem civilized. They had both been sitting in the waiting room for almost an hour. The doctors wanted to examine Sebastian thoroughly for more signs of abuse, and they had both known he didn't want them there for that.

Blaine almost stood up to start pacing again, but Kurt placed his hand over his, stopping him. "Blaine, he's going to be okay."

The other boy shook his head, "I know he should be alright physically, but Kurt, what kind of damage does he have emotionally?"

Kurt could feel the spark of optimism he'd had earlier being crushed. "I don't know. But I'm going to try my best to fix it."

"Where is he going to live? Danny may be in jail, but I bet he doesn't want to return to his old apartment," Blaine whispered the last part. The reason floating between them unspoken: he couldn't return to the apartment because of all the emotional memories, Not to mention the blood stains everywhere.

A doctor finally came into the waiting room calling for the "family of Sebastian Smythe." Kurt and Blaine shot up and ran over to him.

"How is he?" Kurt rushed out.

The doctor frowned. "He's conscious, and his injuries aren't fatal, but the extent of the abuse had gone further than we expected."

Blaine swallowed. "What do you mean?"

"He's covered in bruises, but the ones circling his wrists…" The doctor hesitates. "I believe they were held during one of the violations Sebastian suffered."

Kurt's face drained. "Violations?"

The doctor removed his glasses, his eyes downcast as he ran a hand through his thinning hair. "He was sexually assaulted on multiple occasions. I'm sorry."

Kurt could feel his knees losing their ability to hold him upright. No, this couldn't be real. Danny couldn't have… have…

"When can we see him?" Blaine begged. His hand gently rested under Kurt's arm, it was the only thing keeping him from crumbling to the ground.

"Now, if you are up to it. He's on a few pain medications. They shouldn't affect him too much, but they do make you tired. So don't be surprised if he suddenly falls asleep."

Kurt tried to keep his sneer to himself. He knew how pain meds worked, thank you very much. He wanted to tell the doctor to stop stating the obvious and to just take him to Sebastian.

"How long do you have to keep him?" Blaine asked.

"If he has someone to stay with who will make sure he stays on his medication, I see no reason not to let him leave now. There's nothing more we can do for him. Besides, his emotional health is the one we're worried about."

When neither of them answered, the doctor, who never even announced his name as Kurt now noticed, led them to Sebastian's room.

Sebastian was on the third floor, his room only three doors down from the elevator.

The doctor motioned to the correct door and murmured about giving them "some time alone."

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and squeezed it. Kurt clutched back before slowly easing the door open.

Blaine swallowed a gasp once he saw how bad Sebastian looked. His eye was swollen shut, hand shaped bruises circled his neck and wrists, and stitches lined the side of his face. Kurt luckily had already seen most of it, so he wasn't in too much shock, but poor Blaine was gasping.

Kurt walked over to the bed side and gently took Sebastian's hand in his own. Sebastian's eyes were fluttered closed, but Kurt could tell he wasn't asleep yet. Sebastian slowly cracked open his good eye and Kurt smiled as brightly as he could.

"Kurt?" he crooked.

"Hey," he replied. "How's the pain?"

He summoned a smirk. "Not that bad."

It must have been the first smirk Kurt had seen in a year. "The doctor said you didn't have to spend the night, as long as you're up to it, you can come home tonight."

He frowned. "But I can't go home."

"You can stay with me."

Sebastian's good eye widened at this. "Why?"

"Because you have nowhere to go, and I want you to stay with me."

Sebastian's usual cocky self was resurfacing. "Kurt, don't get any ideas."

He rolled his eyes and smirked back. "I see your dirty mind has already returned. That was a quick recovery."

Sebastian's eyes lost a bit of their edge and Kurt was worried he'd already said something wrong. So he decided to be the bearer of good news. "He's locked up now, Sebastian." Sebastian's eyes went wide as he snapped his head in Kurt's direction. He looked relieved and scared at the same time. "He can't hurt you anymore."

Sebastian looked down at his hand that wasn't held tightly in Kurt's.

Blaine cleared his throat and strained himself in an attempt to smile. "Is there anything you need me to get you for the night? I can grab whatever it is and meet you both at Kurt's."

Sebastian shook his head lightly. Kurt tried to keep himself from frowning at how distant he looked. Like he couldn't fully understand what was happening; why Kurt and Blaine were there, why he was, what was wrong.

Kurt thought through Blaine's question and easily came up with some things they would need. "Maybe some clothes, since none of my stuff will fit. Toothbrush and aspirin too."

Sebastian didn't even flinch. Blaine cast a slightly worried look at Kurt before nodding and heading out to grab the requested items.

Kurt rubbed his thumb over the pale skin along the back of the other boy's hand. "Do you want to head out once Blaine gets back?"

Sebastian nodded. "I hate hospitals."

"Alright, do you need help getting dressed?"

Sebastian's face paled. His hand got shaky in Kurt's. "I-I'm fine."

There weren't any clothes for him to wear until Blaine got back, so Kurt just settled for standing by his side when his nurse came in to clear him for release.

But that wasn't why she was there at all. "Mr. Smythe, we know you needed some time, but the sooner we complete the SAFE kit, the sooner you can get out of here."

Kurt didn't know what that meant. But Sebastian did. He grimaced and closed his eyes. "H-how, how long will it take?"

"Depends on how much damage there is sweetie," she frowned, this was the worst part of her job, but the sooner it was over with… "Mr. Hummel, if you would excuse us?"

Kurt reluctantly released Sebastian's hand and walked out, shutting the door softly behind him. What the heck was a SAFE kit?

He decided after sitting in front of the door for a few minutes, the only thing he could hear being the nurse's murmuring and sporadic grimaces from Sebastian, that he was going to find out. He walked up to the front desk. "Hi, my name is Kurt Hummel and I'm here visiting a friend of mine."

The receptionist nodded. "Name?"

"Sebastian Smythe."

She frowned before she even searched up his name. "Oh, that poor boy. He was brought in earlier this evening. Are you looking for his room?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, no, I've already been to visit him. But they're performing some kind of test or kit of sorts on him and I was curious as to what it was. I believe the nurse called it a safe kit?"

The receptionist's face morphed from sadness to pity. "Oh, honey, that's just the official name for a rape kit. We just say it like that so it doesn't scare the victim's and their families as much. Safe stands for sexual assault forensic evidence. I'm sorry."

Kurt could feel his stomach drop. He offered a forced smile and forced his knees to cooperate until he got back to the chair beside Sebastian's door.

He couldn't believe this was happening. Any of it.

He pulled his knees to his chest, dropped his head, and silently cried.

###

**So? Like it? Hate it? Please let me know! Any ways I could make it better or ways I'm making it awful, please, don't hesitate to tell me!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!  
><strong>

**~Ann**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys so much for all of the reviews and follows and favorites! You guys are amazing! But nothing is as amazing as the Glee season 6 promo they just released! We get Kurt and Rachel trying to restart the New Directions, Blaine leading the Warblers, and Santana and Brittney doing a Cheerios number! My gosh, it looks awesome! But its also rumored Klaine broke up... I don't even want to think about it...**

**While I ship Kurtbastian, since Grant Gustin left for The Flash (Which is extremely AWESOME if you are looking for a new show to love), I ship Klaine as well. Since Klaine is actually canon, I ship it SO HARD now that 'Bastian is gone.**

**Enough of my ranting. **

**Enjoy!**

###

_**Chapter 3**_

He jerked out of his pity party when he heard Sebastian cry out. The door was closed, and the hospital was bustling with noise, but he could still hear it. He clamped his hands over his ears. He couldn't listen to this.

He pulled his phone out and ran to the waiting room. He couldn't listen to this; it would break the calm demeanor he was trying to maintain. So he settled into one of the softer chairs and called Blaine.

Blaine picked up on the first ring. "Kurt? What is it? Did something happen?"

"No, I just needed to talk to someone." Kurt could hear the white noise from whatever store Blaine was in. He would gladly trade the hospital background noise for people yelling at each other late at night at the mall. "Needed a distraction for a little while."

"Why?"

He sighed. "They had to… Sebastian, he, um, has to complete a rape kit."

Blaine hissed. "I know that the sooner they do them, the better the evidence, but still. I wish they could allow him some time to recover before… you know… doing that to him."

Kurt nodded and rubbed his temple. "Yeah. It's going to be a long night."

"Do you know how much longer they're going to have to keep him there?"

He shrugged, rolling his shoulders to relieve some of the stress. "Hopefully not too long. I'm guessing they probably need half an hour or so."

"I'm almost done here, so I should be there in about ten. I tried to get baggier clothes so they wouldn't irritate his bruising. I hope they're big enough though, Sebastian's around a large right?"

Kurt thought about it. "Yeah."

"Good. Okay, I'll see you soon."

Kurt wished he would keep talking, but he didn't want to harass Blaine. "Alright, bye."

The phone beeped when Blaine hung up and Kurt wordlessly gripped it tightly with both hands. He tried to think of someone else to call, but everyone else would want to be talking to him for hours, time he didn't have. He thought about calling Carole and asking about what he should do, she had experience with this kind of stuff, but he decided he would just call her later tonight once Sebastian was settled in.

He waited another ten minutes before walking back to Sebastian's room. Nurses, doctors, and the families and friends of other patients rushed past him. He felt like an invisible sardine in the hallways. Just one more thing he hated about hospitals.

He almost cried in relief when he saw the nurse who had been treating Sebastian walking out of the room. Good, he could head home. Well, to Kurt's home at least.

He knocked lightly before opening the door. Sebastian was sitting with his knees pressed to his chest, the sterile white blanket pulled over his bare legs.

"Blaine should be here any minute with your clothes," he said softly as he sat down on the bed across from Sebastian. He would have said nothing at all, but the way Sebastian's eyes were unfocused scared him. He did not need to spend too much time in his own head; Kurt knew enough to know that someone who had been through what he had shouldn't be allowed to spend too much time in the prison of their own mind. "Sebastian?"

He offered a slight nod, but other than that did not react.

He sat there awkwardly for a few minutes, trying to think of something else to say, before Blaine rushed in. He had two full bags on one arm.

"Alright, I grabbed all the essentials and a couple outfits. Hopefully they will fit." He smiled brightly. Kurt offered a small smile back at Blaine's attempt to give them a little happiness, but Sebastian still did not look up. "Here." He pulled out a pair of gray sweatpants, a pack of boxers, a white undershirt, and a sweatshirt. "Do you need any help getting dressed?"

When Sebastian didn't respond, Kurt gently reached out and touched his arm, causing him to jump. "Sorry. You were scaring us. Ready to get dressed so we can get you out of here?"

He nodded and took the clothes from Blaine before limping into the small adjoined bathroom.

Blaine turned to Kurt once he heard the lock click and water turn on. "Do you want me to spend the night?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, thanks, but I'll be fine. Sebastian may have been a total jerk to me when we were in high school, but I have the feeling that's going to change." Kurt racked his brain for things they had to do. Medications. "Can you stay in here while I go grab his prescriptions? Hopefully it won't take too long for them to fill."

"I had the nurse call it in so all I have to do is pick it up," Blaine said with a smile. "It shouldn't take you too long. I think I can handle Sebastian for ten minutes."

Sebastian was ready before Kurt returned. Blaine sighed in relief once he saw that everything fit. He handed Sebastian a pair of socks to slip on. "Are your shoes here or do I need to run your apartment real quick?"

Sebastian shook his head. "No, I have some." He picked them up from beside the other side of the bed. "Thanks though. For the clothes too." He chuckled lightly. "I don't deserve it."

"It was nothing, I'm just glad you're safe now. No one deserved to go through what you did."

Sebastian smirked. "Don't lie to me. I was a slutty douche bag in high school." His eyes darkened. "I got what was coming for me. I deserved to be punished."

Blaine could feel rage building in his chest. He knew that thought hadn't originated in Sebastian's mind. That was something Danny had said to him, Blaine was sure of it. His hands balled into fists and he breathed through his nose to calm himself. "No one deserves what you have gone through. _Especially_ you."

Sebastian frowned, turning his back to Blaine as he slipped on his shoes.

He wanted to feel safe, like this chapter of his life was over. Like everything involving his fiancé ended tonight.

That was the thing though, it _wasn't_ over. It wasn't like once he got away from Danny he was going to be completely fine. Danny had screwed him up, even more then he had been to begin with.

What scared him though was no matter how hard he was trying to convince himself otherwise, he believed so much of what Danny said. He _was_ lazy, he _was_ useless, he _was_ a whore, he _was_ fat, and he _was_ unlovable. No, he wasn't all of those things; he _is_ all of those things.

The door opened and Sebastian stood up. He had to stop thinking so much; it wasn't helping. He turned around and saw Kurt had returned with his medication and a faint smile. "Ready to get out of here?"

Sebastian nodded eagerly.

Kurt ushered both of them out before looking at the rumpled hospital bed, the hard plastic chairs beside it, the blandness of the room.

He hoped he would never have to step foot in a room like this again.

He slammed the door behind him.

###

**Sorry, this was really short. Besides this one and the one following it, the rest of my chapters are 2k+. :Also, let me know how I'm doing on the characterization. This is my first Glee fic, and I'm nervous the characters are OOC. Let me know what you think!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	5. Chapter 4

**I know! Frequent updates! What is up with me?! Think of this as a early Christmas present! I'll post the next chapter Christmas Eve, so keep your eyes out for that! Also, the speedy motivation for this update is solely due to a really sweet and thoughtful PM I recieved from dreamkeaper. So thank her for this update, thanks for making me feel like my story was loved!**

**This chapter made me feel the feels, so hopefully it does for you too! Merry Christmas and I love you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

###

_**Chapter 4**_

The ride to Kurt's apartment was long, but only because Blaine had to keep gently shaking Sebastian awake because of all times to kick in, his pain meds had chosen now.

"Almost there, just two more blocks," he murmured, glad the traffic was not too bad around the apartments. If there was one thing he missed about Lima, it was the lack of traffic. In Lima, it took a minute or two to go a mile. In NYC, you were lucky if you got there in half an hour.

Luck was on his side. He sped through the last two blocks and even found a parking spot relatively close to the apartment building's door.

Kurt glanced at the clock, it was past midnight. He could not believe he wasn't tired. Maybe the adrenaline was just still running strong.

Blaine grabbed all the bags from the back seat while Kurt clutched the bag of medication and tried to keep Sebastian from falling asleep standing up. "Come on, only five more minutes."

Sebastian smirked lightly. "Out of context, that sounds like something I would have said in middle school when I wanted to stay up _later_."

They made their way to Kurt's apartment, and Kurt was so glad Rachel wasn't home. She had no idea any of this was going on, and he was not in the mood to explain it right now. He would call her later along with everyone else he needed to inform of his new roommate.

He unlocked the door and silently thanked whatever was out there that today had been a cleaning day.

His apartment was small, but neat and homey. He had strategically arranged all of the furniture so that it felt bigger then it was. He dropped the medication on the counter top and got to work right away making up the couch.

After covering it in a thick blanket and tossing a lighter one on top, he pulled a pillow off his bed and checked to make sure Sebastian didn't need to take any of his meds before he fell asleep.

Sebastian leaned over the counter while Kurt read through all his medication instructions. Sebastian supposed he could try to help, but his eye that wasn't swollen shut was so foggy from sleepiness that there was no way he could read the tiny print. He rubbed at it and blinked rapidly to try to keep it open.

"Okay," Kurt held out two small white pills. "It says to take these every four hours for the pain. The others are just for in the morning." After handing Sebastian the capsules, Kurt poured him a glass of water and watched him take them.

Wordlessly, Sebastian limped over to the couch and collapsed, not even bothering to cover himself with the blanket Kurt had set out for him.

"Call me if you need me," Blaine whispered. "Are you going to school tomorrow?"

Kurt shrugged. "No clue." He dragged his hands over his face. "I'll let you know."

"Alright, see you tomorrow."

"Bye, Blaine."

He watched as Blaine shut the door softly behind him.

Great, now he had to let Rachel know about their new customer at the Hummel-Berry residence.

###

"Wait, Kurt, _what_?!" He cringed as her voice raised several octaves. "I was hoping to throw a cast party tonight."

"Rachel, I didn't have any other choice!"

"Why is he there anyway? I thought you hated him."

"You know what he told Daniel?"

She sounded slightly annoyed. "Yeah, everyone knows about that. It was just attention seeking. I mean, seriously Kurt, have you forgotten who we're talking about?"

"Rachel, he wasn't lying."

She was quiet for a few beats, something he didn't usually associate with the name Rachel Berry. When she finally did speak, her voice came out a whisper, "How long?"

"Long enough. I haven't asked, but Rachel, it was awful. I went over earlier to confront him about it, and Danny lost it. I had to call the cops. We just got back from the hospital."

"Oh my God Kurt!"

"Yeah."

"How is he?"

"Sleeping. He was a complete wreck earlier. He's jumpy and distant. I've never seen him like this. Even after Karofsky's suicide attempt."

"What are you going to do Kurt?"

He walked over to the bathroom and shut himself in. He knew Sebastian was asleep, he could tell by the slow rising and falling of his chest, but he did not want to risk him hearing this. "I don't know. What can I do?"

"I don't know either. But Kurt, you're already doing a lot. I mean you offered to let him live with you until he got back on his feet. That's more than most would offer."

"I guess."

Murmuring echoed from Rachel's end. "Sorry, I have to do an interview. I'll call you on my way home, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Rachel."

She hung up and Kurt sighed.

He got into his pjs and tried to think of something to do until he could calm down enough to sleep. He didn't feel like reading a magazine, he couldn't watch TV since Sebastian was on the couch, and he didn't have that much school work to do. He didn't really have any responsibilities until the next morning-

He face palmed. Crap, he had the early shift tomorrow at work. He would have to beg someone to take his shift for him. He couldn't leave Sebastian here in the apartment alone for four hours.

He texted Santana and begged. He hated doing it, but he was desperate. He received a reply instantly. Surprisingly, she said yes without inquiring why. He would have to thank her next time he saw her.

He checked on Sebastian before he went to bed. The poor boy was curled up on the couch, his folded legs making him look smaller. His expression was serene, but his mutilated face prevented him from looking completely peaceful. Kurt threw a blanket over him just in case; his apartment was at the top of the building and despite the fact that heat rises, it always got freezing in there at night.

Kurt let his eyes linger for a little longer on his bruised and bloodied face before just settling for waiting up for Rachel in the kitchen. Under normal circumstances, he would have just fallen asleep; Rachel would keep him up for hours talking about God knows what otherwise. But tonight was a special situation; she was going to have questions.

Unluckily for Kurt, she showed up a good two hours later.

"Oh my God, Kurt! I told you not to stay up," Rachel came in, screaming the way only a New Yorker could.

"Rachel!" He motioned for her to dial the volume down from 'getting a taxi' to 'there's someone sleeping on our couch.'

"Oh, right! Sorry, Funny Girl has got me all crazy!" She sat down at the kitchen table. "So, how long is he staying here?"

"I don't know," Kurt yawned. Yeah, he most definitely regretted waiting up for her.

"Who else knows about this?"

"Blaine."

She began to fidget, "What did the doctor say?"

Kurt felt a shiver go down his spine. "It's not good." She opened her mouth to ask another question, but Kurt could feel himself fading. He could talk to her in the morning. He needed some sleep. "Rachel, it's been a really long night. Can we please just talk about everything in the morning?"

She nodded hesitantly. "Sure, night Kurt."

"Night Rachel."

For the first time since he'd gotten to New York, Kurt skipped his skin regime. He just crawled under the covers and went out like a light.

###

"Kurt, wake up."

Someone was shaking his shoulder. "Wake up," they whispered again, this time louder. It was Rachel.

"Rachel, early, too early," he murmured and rolled over.

"Kurt, it's Sebastian. I think he's having a nightmare," she whispered, her voice making it clear she had no idea what to do.

It took a few seconds for her words to register. Once they computed, he pulled himself to his feet and gently pushed past her.

Now that some of the fog of sleep had evaporated, he could hear Sebastian whimpering.

The blankets were balled up at his feet and his forehead was speckled with sweat. Kurt sat on the edge of the couch and hesitantly touched the shaking boy's arm. "Sebastian, wake up." He didn't stir, so Kurt dared to say it louder. "Sebastian, wake up!"

Sebastian's eyes shot open and he scrambled away from Kurt's hand with a yelp. He pulled his knees to his chest and rubbed at his eyes.

"Sebastian-" Kurt whispered, instinctually reaching toward the shivering figure.

"I-I'm… I'm okay," Sebastian bit into his lip to keep from bursting into tears in front of Kurt. He wouldn't cry. He couldn't cry. Danny never did.

Kurt wished there was some way to comfort him, but he didn't seem like he wanted to be touched. "You're shaking…"

Sebastian could feel the walls he had tried to build up cracking. He tried to deny what Kurt was saying; he wasn't scared.

But he _was._ He couldn't think about Danny without convulsing. At the same time though, he couldn't _stop _thinking about Danny. The intense brown of his eyes, the sharp build of his face, the firm muscles covering his body, his soft voice, his calloused guitarist hands…

His thoughts drifted to the dark part of his mind. The dark glare of Danny's eyes when he was mad, the way his face contorted with rage, his muscles straining as he held Sebastian down… his rough voice mocking him… his hard hands landing blows…

The sob bubbled up uncontrollably. He dropped his face against his knees, trying to stop. His hands had been shaking, but now his whole body was. He couldn't believe he was breaking down like this. Danny would have already hit him by now. His dad probably would have as well. Not only was he weak, but he was a crybaby.

He felt one of Kurt's arms wrap around his shoulders. He tensed up and his breath caught in the back of his throat. Kurt was going to hit him, or strangle him-

But he didn't. His other arm wrapped around Sebastian and he pulled him into a soft embrace. Sebastian let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding, collapsed against Kurt's shoulder, and sobbed.

"It's going to be okay, you're safe now," Kurt muttered. "He can't touch you." Kurt ran his hand up and down Sebastian's shoulder as he cried. He had never felt someone cry this hard. Sebastian didn't breath between the strangled sobs; he gasped. His whole body shook in beat with his cries.

Kurt felt his own eyes beginning to sting. How could you fix someone this broken? Danny had shattered Sebastian. Destroyed his mind, his body. His feeling of safety. His feelings of self-worth. Kurt ran his hand softly through the other boy's satiny brown locks. It would be hard to reassemble his crumbled spirit, like putting together broken glass.

But Kurt would do it. No matter how hard it was, how long it took. He decided right there and then, he wasn't going to give up on Sebastian. After all, what did you do with the remains of something beautiful? Especially something made of glass? You made something even more beautiful.

You made a mosaic.

###

**Not as long as I was hoping for, but hey, I updated pretty quickly, so I don't feel too bad. Anyone else hoping and praying Sebastian is going to come back, even for just a scene?! My fingers are totally crossed. **

**Also, I know practically every author says this, but reviews seriously help creativity and keep the authoring juices flowing. It also makes me feel warm and loved, which is something I need right now. I love you guys, and thanks you to everyone who actually takes the time to read these, and reviews. I love follows and favorites as well!**

**Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!  
><strong>

**~Ann**


	6. Chapter 5

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks so much to all of my reviewers! I love you guys so much! **

**I'm probably not going to be updating for a week or two, I'm going on vacation. XD And directly after that, to a youth retreat. So, I'm not abandoning this story or taking a crazy break, I just won't have internet. But vacation will give me plenty of time to work on this story, so it's not completely a bad thing. **

**Enjoy!**

###

_**Chapter 5**_

Sebastian cried himself to sleep. Gradually, he calmed down, and almost an hour later, Kurt noticed he had fallen asleep. Rachel dared to approach them once Sebastian had been quiet for twenty minutes.

"What did he do to him?"

Kurt shook his head. "You don't want to know." When she was silent, he realized he might have come off as hostile. "Besides, I don't know whether it's my place to tell you."

Rachel felt her hands beginning to shake at the memory of the breakdown she just witnessed, so she tucked them under her arms. "Kurt, is he going to be okay?"

Kurt wished Rachel would stop talking. He would start crying too otherwise. "I don't know."

He glanced down at the delicate face propped up against his shoulder. Warm clouds of breath evaporated against the sliver of bare skin Kurt's collar exposed as Sebastian breathed. It caused goose bumps to form along his torso. He wanted to go back to his own bed, but he didn't want to wake Sebastian up.

Rachel walked back into her bedroom, her feet softly padding against the floor.

About ten minutes later, Kurt slipped out from under Sebastian and re-covered him with the blanket before returning to his own bed.

While he was falling asleep though, he couldn't stop thinking about him.

###

The next morning, Kurt woke up late. Late by his standards at least, he was usually up and going by seven. It was half past eight. He sat straight up and headed toward the kitchen. His stomach was growling and he needed to check on Sebastian.

Sebastian was sitting on the couch, his eyes gazing over a book he had pulled off of Kurt and Rachel's tiny bookcase. When he noticed Kurt, he closed the book and set it on the table.

He smirked. "You look like you've been electrocuted, princess. Struck by lightning recently?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You should see your hair."

Truthfully, Sebastian's hair wasn't sticking up, and Kurt knew he probably looked ridiculous, but he would never admit it.

Kurt padded into the kitchen and pulled a half empty egg carton out of the refrigerator. "Are eggs okay?"

Sebastian nodded and Kurt placed a pan over a low burner.

While the pan heated up, Kurt read over all of Sebastian's medications. "Okay, so you're supposed to take all three of these in the morning-"

"Already did," Sebastian stated, stretching as he sat down at the table. Kurt noticed his pained shuffle.

"Do you want to go back to the hospital and get them to prescribe some stronger pain killers?" Kurt could see the necklace of a bruise peeking out from beneath Sebastian's hoodie and felt a surge of rage explode at the thought that someone had done this. No, not just someone, _Danny._

"No."

Kurt was surprised by how quick and frank his answer was. Sebastian was looking nowhere again, his bright eyes unfocused and his breathing speeding up. There was a backstory there Sebastian wasn't willing to share. As much as Kurt wanted to know what it was, he refrained from asking. "How many and how do you want them?"

"What?"

"Eggs," Kurt held up the carton. "How many and how do you want them?"

Sebastian rubbed at his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, sure, two scrambled please?"

Kurt nodded and started cracking and whisking. It was delightfully mindless work. It kept his hands and mind busy and off of the lanky boy sitting at his kitchen table.

He turned around and glimpsed at the mangled stitches trailing from Sebastian's left cheek all the way to his forehead. He never asked how Danny did it. He knew it was going to scar, tainting Sebastian's perfect complexion. Well, it ruined his complexion no more than the gigantic bruises.

Kurt turned back to cooking, if he kept eyeing Sebastian he would burn their food. He flipped the eggs before cranking some salt and pepper over them. The smell made his stomach growl, he hadn't eaten dinner the night before, and his gut wasn't about to let him hear the last of it.

"When's my interview?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Your what?"

Sebastian clamped his hands under the table to keep them from noticeably shaking. "The one I'll have to do to testify against Danny." His voice almost cracked when he whispered his ex-fiancé's name.

Kurt's face softened. "They said they would call me at some point this morning. The phone hasn't rang has it?"

Sebastian shook his head and ran his hand over his hair, cringing as his fingers brushed his bruised forehead. His usually radiant green eyes were dull and lifeless. Like those of someone who had died.

Kurt still couldn't believe this was the same Sebastian who had tormented him and religiously flirted with his old boyfriend. The same smirky meerkat he had detested so strongly back when he was at McKinley. Besides the fact that Kurt hadn't been able to look at him without curling his lip, Sebastian had always had this defiant spark that made him lively. Now, that spark was nowhere to be seen.

Sebastian was even thinner than he had been in high school, his skin was ashen and translucent, his eyes were blank, and the only color on his face was the deep purple of bruises and the bags beneath his eyes. His hands also seemed to have developed a severe tremor. Sebastian did a good job trying to hide it, but Kurt had noticed how every time Sebastian was forced to talk about Danny or something similar his hands clasped to muffle some of the shaking.

Kurt served their breakfast and slid the plates on the table before sitting directly across from Sebastian.

By the time Kurt had finished his meal, Sebastian hadn't even tasted his. Kurt served both of them a glass of water, but Sebastian still didn't even stab the eggs. He just shoved them back and forth across his plate.

"Sebastian, you have to eat something," Kurt said softly as he cleared his own plate.

"I'm not hungry."

Kurt shook his head. "At least eat a little bit."

Sebastian sighed. He was tired, and he felt sick, and the last thing he wanted to do was eat. He drew his hands down over his face. "I'm not hungry Kurt."

Kurt decided raising his voice wasn't going to help, so he tried going the opposite direction. "Sebastian, your meds will make you sick if you don't eat something soon. I'll make you whatever you want, just try to eat something. Please?"

He knew Kurt was right. If he thought his stomach was rolling right now, it would be pulsing once his pain meds kicked in. He cringed and took a bite of his eggs. They tasted good, Kurt had whipped them and added lots of milk so they were nice and fluffy, but Sebastian still felt sick.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked when he saw Sebastian's expression. "They don't taste bad do they?"

Sebastian shook his head and swallowed. He couldn't decide whether he should keep eating or stop. He decided on the first.

It turned out to be the right decision. The pain had been from going so long without eating.

Kurt was washing the pan and dishes. "Do you want first shower?"

Sebastian nodded and wordlessly shut himself in the bathroom.

"Please," Kurt muttered, "don't be so chatty."

###

Sebastian hated mirrors. He always had, ever since he was little, but these last few years his hate for them had skyrocketed. Probably because what he saw always disappointed him, but once he started dating Danny, what Sebastian saw in the mirror started to disappoint his boyfriend too.

"_My God, look at how much weight you gained."_

_Sebastian bit his lip. "We just spent a week on vacation. I only gained a pound or two, I should be able to lose it as easily as I gained it." He gripped his stomach, it honestly wasn't even noticeable. His abs were still visible, and due to his height, the weight was spread so thin you couldn't even tell. Sebastian didn't even think he had gained any weight. _

"_You better." Danny of course looked as perfect as ever. "I don't want my boyfriend to be a fat whore."_

"_I know, I'll lose it I promise."_

Sebastian cranked the water on all the way, peeled off his boxers, and hopped in the shower. He had only glimpsed at himself in the mirror above the sink, but he hadn't given himself time to look past his torso. He knew his face was awful normally, but with the stitches and bruises, he must look horrendous. Even Kurt couldn't bear to look at him for too long. He didn't want to know how bad he looked.

The hot water pelted his body, making him grimace when they hit his bruises.

He liked the pain though. It kept him rooted in reality.

He washed himself thoroughly, liking the feeling washing gave him. Like he could scrub away some of the evidence of what he had done and what had been done to him.

Before he knew it though, the water was cold and his body was red from being scrubbed too hard for too long. His face was stinging from the water running across his sewn laceration for so long.

Kurt banged on the door. "Sebastian? You've been in there for almost an hour."

Sebastian swore under his breath and turned the water off. His teeth started chattering and his shoulders shivered from the sudden absence of the icy water. He grabbed a towel off of the wall and hurried to dry himself off before tying it around his waist. It was too steamy to get dressed in the bathroom; his clothes would stick to him.

He grabbed his clothes and glanced at the God forsaken mirror, hoping the deep cleansing had washed away some of the disgustingness. But it was so foggy that he could barely make out his silhouette.

Sebastian opened the bathroom door to find Kurt standing directly in front of it, blocking his way out.

"Your lips are blue," Kurt exclaimed. He placed the back of his hand against Sebastian's neck. "You're freez-"

His eyes had finally made it past Sebastian's neck. His torso was covered in bruises. A giant yellow one directly over the left side of his collarbone. A few little purple ones peppered his stomach. The purple bracelets around his wrists. A large green one along the right side of his ribs.

His eyes went to his feet and what Kurt could see of his legs. They were sprinkled with bruises too. Kurt knew he was staring, his mouth agape with a hand placed over it lightly, but he couldn't stop. "Sebastian…" What could he say? I'm sorry? Sebastian didn't want to hear that.

Another thing also came to his attention now though. Sebastian had always been thin, incredibly lean but muscular. But Kurt could see his ribs. His limbs were smaller around. His collarbone stuck out more prominently. Danny had been starving him.

"I didn't know, the doctors didn't tell me…" Kurt felt his breathing speeding up and his jaw clenching. He couldn't believe no one had noticed. That people had sat around and let Danny do this to him. Someone had to have noticed something at some point. A bruise. A flinch. A look. But no one helped him.

Kurt could not judge though, because he didn't notice either. He had let this happen too. He saw Sebastian almost daily. But he never actually _saw_ Sebastian.

He was just as guilty as everyone else. This was partially his fault as well.

"I'm fine," Sebastian pushed past Kurt, his bare arm brushing Kurt's shoulder painfully.

Kurt stood there and watched as he staggered into Kurt's bedroom to change, the curtain flapping closed behind him.

He went back into the kitchen and scrubbed the dishes, trying to take his mind off of Sebastian's mauled flesh.

He knew he cried too much, and that crying never helped, but he cranked the facet up to full blast and let the tears cascade down his face. He kept the gasping and sobbing at bay, he couldn't risk Sebastian hearing him break like this, but the tears wouldn't stop.

He dried his hands off and dragged them across his face, smearing the tears. He couldn't help laughing. He was an emotional mess and he wasn't even the one who was hurt. He couldn't even imagine how hard this was for Sebastian.

Well, he was going to have to find out later. The police had called while Sebastian was in the shower and the interview was scheduled for that afternoon. Sebastian would have to vocally explain everything Danny had done to him in detail. To a complete stranger.

It was going to be a long day.

###

**So? Comments or critiques? Let me know via that really great button down there!**

**Once again, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and thanks for reading and reviewing!  
><strong>

**~Ann**

**P.S. Shout out for whoever catches the two references I hid in one reference I made in this chapter. **


	7. Chapter 6

**I'm back! Thanks so much to my reviewers (There weren't that many of you, but to those who did, I love you guys!). **

**This chapter is all kinds of angsty and warnings or everything I put in the first chapter. Lots of triggers. **

**Hope you enjoy!**

**###**

**_Chapter 6_**

"When are they coming?" He asked, his voice coming out weaker then he wanted it to. He couldn't believe this was happening. The absolute last thing he wanted to do was talk about how weak he was. About how Danny knew about his weakness. His stomach turned at the very idea of it.

Kurt sent him a sympathetic look. "Half an hour. If you want, I can go out and give you some privacy."

Sebastian shook his head and began to pick at one of his fingernails. "No. I don't care."

Kurt wondered if it didn't bother him either way, or whether he actually wanted Kurt to stay and just didn't want to admit it. "Alright. Do you want to eat lunch early?"

Sebastian dropped his head back against the couch. "I don't want to do this on a full stomach."

Kurt understood that, but ever since he had seen Sebastian's starved body… He was just worried that even if Sebastian was hungry, he wouldn't tell him. Or that he might even skip meals in purpose.

Kurt needed something to do, badly. His was going mad and he had to focus on something other than random conspiracy theories he churned up.

He had never been one to love phone calls, he preferred to talk to people face to face, but this was a case of desperation. He needed to distract himself.

He would have called Rachel, she could babble endlessly for hours on end, but she was rehearsing. Santana wasn't someone you called without a good reason. Finn was in class, shockingly. His dad was at work. But this was the Friday his stepmother, Carole, had off.

He didn't usually call her, not unless he couldn't contact his father or Finn. But she was there, and easy to talk to.

She picked up on the second ring. "Kurt!"

He smiled. "Hi. How are things in Lima?"

"They're great, sweetie. How's New York?"

Kurt wandered off to his bedroom, pulling the curtain closed behind him. "Good. Really hectic right now."

"NYADA keeping you busy?"

He hesitated. "In a way."

She laughed. "Honey, you know I love talking to you, and I'm so glad you called, but why? Did something big happen?" He couldn't get his mouth to form the words. "Kurt?"

Kurt shuddered. "It's a really long story and I just needed to talk to someone."

"I've got time."

"Well…"

By the time Kurt had finally fully informed her, she was trying to convince him to let her come up for a few days. His dad wasn't as good with this kind of stuff, and he would need help balancing watching Sebastian and his other duties, such as his job and NYADA.

"Kurt, you can't handle it all by yourself. I know you want to, you're stubborn like your father in that way, but you're going to wear yourself out. I'll only stay a few days. Just until he's mostly physically better."

Kurt had no idea what to think, or say. He wanted Carole's help, but he did not know how Sebastian would take it.

"Alright," he sighed.

"I'll let you know once I find a flight. I'll try for tonight or early tomorrow."

He smiled. "Thanks Carole."

"No problem, honey. But the question is now, do you want to tell your dad or do you want me to?"

Kurt groaned. Yeah, that was going to be fun. Explaining to his father why someone he used to detest was now living in his apartment, downright delightful. "It will sound better coming from me. Thanks though."

"Stop thanking me for stuff. I'll see you soon."

"Bye." He slipped his phone into his back pocket.

"Who was that?"

He jumped. "God, Sebastian. Don't sneak up on me like that." He didn't understand how he could walk so stealthily. His legs must have been killing him.

Sebastian smirked. "Don't flatter yourself. I didn't sneak up on you. You were just so engrossed in your phone call that you didn't hear me clomping around."

"Ha ha," Kurt muttered.

"Who were you talking to?"

Kurt ran a hand over his hair. "My stepmother. She's going to stay here for a few days."

Sebastian crossed his arms and leaned against one of the support beams. "Why?"

Kurt sighed. There was no way to beat around this bush, and he didn't want to lie. "To help me out."

"With what?" Sebastian's eyebrow shot up. Kurt was silent. "Wait, _with me?_ I'm not a toddler. I don't need a babysitter."

"Sebastian… You know that's not-"

"No, I _do_ know that's what you meant." He walked off, determined to be prideful and not to grimace, despite the fact that every step sent a wave of pain up his legs.

Kurt face palmed. _Yeah, great job there Hummel. I'm sure that's exactly what every guy in college wants to hear._ _That they're so emotionally unstable that the person their living with needs his _stepmom_ to come help him out. Yeah, not all that flattering._

There weren't any actual rooms in their apartment to hide out in besides the bathroom so Sebastian locked himself in there for ten minutes or so.

Kurt wanted more than anything to know what was going on inside Sebastian's head, but he wasn't going to pry. He just needed to give him some space.

###

"Mr. Smythe?" the officer inquired.

Sebastian had zoned out again. Kurt touched his shoulder, jerking Sebastian back into reality. They had only asked two questions, and he was already spacing out. "Yes, sorry."

"When did you meet Danny Morgan?"

Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck. "When I first moved here to New York. He… He worked in a music shop near my old apartment."

"How long have you known him?"

"A year."

"When did you two become involved?"

Kurt saw some of the color drain from Sebastian's complexion. "Our first date was only a few days after we met, but we didn't start dating for a few weeks."

"When did he propose to you?"

"Two months ago. I moved in within him around the same time." Kurt was surprised by how clear Sebastian was. His hands were shaky, and his face ashen, but his voice didn't waver.

The officer's hand hadn't stopped moving the whole time, but he set down his pencil for the next question. "When did he first begin to physically abuse you?"

Sebastian's hands began to shake so much he had to shove them between his thighs. "A few months after we started dating. We had been arguing and I crossed a line." He blinked, he was not going to lose it. Not right now. Not here. "He punched me in the face."

"Did you ever try to end the relationship?"

He couldn't believe this. He would have to vocally admit to not having been strong enough. It came out barely above a whisper. "No."

"Why not?"

He could feel Kurt tensing up beside him. Kurt didn't appear to like how emotionless this law enforcement worker's approach was.

_Trust me Kurt, it's always better this way. It's harder when they send you looks of pity and try to offer meaningless words of comfort._

Sebastian crossed his arms and steeled himself to just spill. His voice didn't want to cooperate though. "I…"

The cop's eyes seemed to be boring into him. He began to blink furiously as those eyes morphed and changed until they resembled someone else's. Their hazel became darker and the blankness was filled by hatred.

"No," he whispered softly, his hands burrowing into his hair. "No, no, no." He closed his eyes and began to rock back and forth, his head shaking.

"Give him some space," Kurt snapped and began to rub Sebastian's back.

The officer sent a firm glare Kurt's way, one that clearly stated he didn't like his attitude.

Kurt didn't give a damn. A badge didn't suddenly excuse you from being an asshole.

"Do you want to take a break?" Kurt muttered, loud enough that only Sebastian could hear it. "Don't try to be a hero. If you need a break, just take one."

Sebastian nodded and subconsciously leaned into Kurt's shoulder. "Just… Just g-give me a minute."

The officer's expression remained monotonous. Kurt didn't understand how you could witness someone breaking down and not feel anything. Sympathy that they were hurting. Rage towards whoever hurt them. Unsettled by the idea that someone could do this to someone else.

Sebastian could feel the walls he had set up so carefully crumbling away. Memories were resurfacing. Things he didn't want to face.

_"__I can't believe this!" Sebastian yelled. "You went out, to dinner with another man, and you honestly think I'm stupid enough to believe it wasn't a date! I'm not a damn moron!"_

_Danny clenched his fists at his sides and met Sebastian's icy glare. "He was helping me with a project!"_

_"__Project 'Cheating on my Boyfriend?" Sebastian could feel his eyes burning. "I can't believe you did this. Danny, we were fine. More than fine. I thought I was in love with you!" Sebastian could feel the anger coming back. "I'm such an idiot! I fell for you! And then you-"_

_At first he just stood there completely dazed. He reached up and felt the raising bump and blood forming above his eye. His mouth was opened slightly and he stared at his boyfriend in shock. Danny had hit him. No, not just hit him, _punched_ him. He felt the pain finally hit and he gingerly pressed a clean napkin to it, bringing it down to confirm there was indeed blood there. _

_Danny's eyes were like black holes right then. Sebastian saw a darkness, an anger, he had never seen before in his boyfriend. Danny didn't apologize, he didn't look remorseful. His voice was quiet, but the threat was obvious and clear._

_"__Never yell at me like that again."_

_Sebastian tried to retaliate, tried to make it clear that what he did, how he reacted, was _not _okay. But he was struck silent. His mouth wouldn't move. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he was dating a man who would hit him. His temple was pulsing._

_"__Do you understand?" Danny's finger pointed at Sebastian's chest, the sudden movement causing him to step back and hit his lower back on the kitchen counter._

_He nodded._

He brought his hands over his eyes and tried to rub away the images imprinted on his retinas. It was going to be a very long interview. "Alright. I-I'm okay."

Kurt didn't look convinced, but he didn't argue.

"Why didn't you leave Danny?"

Sebastian's felt a shiver run down his spine. "I was scared."

"When was the first time he sexually assaulted you?"

Kurt stiffened and wrapped his arm protectively across Sebastian's shoulders.

"I was drunk, we had been together for four months," he paused and took a shaky breath. "I didn't want to, but I was too intoxicated to stop him-"

He placed a hand over his mouth to keep from gasping. He could only remember bits and pieces, but the stuff he did remember was horrifying.

_"__-no, Danny, I'm not ready!-"_

_"__-shut up-"_

_"__-please, please, I don't want this-"_

_"__-stop screaming! Someone will hear you-"_

_"__-NO!-"_

"Sebastian." Kurt could see it in his face, he needed to stop and breath. "Okay, we're taking a break." Kurt gently pulled him to his feet and steered him towards the bedroom.

"It's easier to just get it-" The officer started.

"We're taking a break," Kurt snapped. Sebastian was barely holding himself up, his whole body shaking from compressing sobs.

He sat him down on the bed and tried to control his building rage. God, he hated that Sebastian had to go through this. He knew that if they were hoping to lock Danny up, to get justice, this was essential, but that didn't make it any easier.

Sebastian was holding his head in his hands and breathing shakily. His tall, lanky form seemed so small. Like he had begun to fold in on himself and if someone didn't stop him, he would soon be reduced to nothing.

After a few minutes in silence, Sebastian lifted his head and shuttered. "I need to finish this." His voice was soft, fragile. Kurt had to remind himself that this Sebastian had once been a cocky, sarcastic, Mr. I-Sleep-With-Anything-That-Has-a-Dick. Now it was like he had been drained of all his self-confidence and happiness and filled again with dark sadness and soul crushing memories.

The rest of the interview was finished without a meltdown, but it was like Sebastian wasn't really there. Not that he had been fully there since Kurt rescued him from Danny, but he was less than half there right now.

The officer finally left, notebook pages filled with notes to prosecute Danny. Sebastian just sat on the couch, his knees to his chest.

He felt like throwing up; someone knew what he hadn't stopped. Someone knew _everything_. He could feel his breakfast in his stomach. Maybe he was just imagining it; it should have been digested by now. But it felt like a chunk of iron was sitting in his gut. It made him nauseous.

He would vomit, even induce it; anything to lessen the feeling of disgust that was consuming him. But Kurt wouldn't understand. Kurt would think something was wrong with him, that he had an eating disorder or something similar.

So he just dealt with the pain, the feeling of repulsion, swallowing it down like everything else.

**###**

**So? Hope you loved reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I love these characters so much. XD**

**Glee season 6 premieres on FRIDAY! I know, it hasn't been the same, and a lot of people quit watching it, but I'm excited none the less. (Maybe we'll get a little bit of Sebastian. At least a mention.) While I love Kurtbastian, Klaine is still super cute and I'm really really hoping for a Klaine wedding this season! (And a Britana one.)**

**Let me know what you think of this story so far and thanks for sticking with me! Reviews make my writer heart happy and encourage me to write more. I have a new policy: 8 reviews or 7 days. This will be my updating schedule.**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!  
><strong>

**~Ann**


	8. Chapter 7

**I love writing this story so much. I just wish Seb and Kurt weren't so stubborn. Getting these two together is going to take some serious plotting and lots of angst and feels. Don't worry though, I have a plot.**

**Today was a snow day so I had some time to do some writing. My chapters are getting longer. It's beautiful!**

**As always, thanks for reading and reviewing! Love you guys!**

**Enjoy!**

**###**

_**Chapter 7**_

Carole's plane came in late that night, almost midnight.

Sebastian had fallen asleep on Kurt's floor so Carole could have the couch. Kurt had laid a blanket along the hardwood with a pillow and given Sebastian another blanket to cover himself with. It most certainly wasn't ideal, but Seb had refused Kurt's bed.

Sebastian didn't want lunch and barely ate at dinner. Kurt knew it was unrealistic to try to have him eat after the interview, it had turned Kurt's stomach as well, but that didn't change how worried he was about him.

He had never been more thankful that his stepmother was on her way. She would know just what to say, and do, and when to just let him have his way.

Kurt glanced around the apartment. Rachel had helped him clean the place up before she too went to bed, and it was in perfect condition. Just how he liked it when someone was about to see it for the first time.

He grabbed his car keys, pulled on a thick coat with gloves tucked in the pockets, and locked the apartment behind him.

The hallways were completely vacant. It didn't make much sense. This was _New York City _after all, the city that never sleeps.

It was probably due to the fact that it was a Friday night. Everyone went out on Friday nights. Kurt and Rachel even went out every other week. They were supposed to be going to Manhattan next week, some of their fellow NYADA students had recommended some shops, but now it looked like that wouldn't be happening.

Kurt noticed how cold the building was for the first time since he had moved here. If Carole thought Ohio was freezing, she had another thing coming when she arrived in NYC. He drew his jacket around himself tighter and tied the belt around his thin waist. He slipped gloves on and even considered a hat. His hair was too fabulous to be ruined by a hat though.

He stepped out into the cold city air, burned rubber and cigarette smoke filling his lungs. Only thing he missed about Lima besides the lack of traffic; fresh air. Here the air always smelled sour, it's pungent odor hard to miss.

Everything about New York was distinct. The smell, the sound, the people, the scenery.

He trudged through the crowded sidewalks toward his car, not surprised to find the traffic was too bad to pull out. He would have to get a taxi.

"Taxi!" He screamed, summoning his inner Rachel Berry to make the demand even more loud and obnoxious than your average New Yorker. It only worked partially, but it was better than usual. A taxi stopped a few seconds later, the driver rolling down the window and murmuring a gruff "Where to?"

"The airport," he yelled over the blaring radio as he tried not to cringe at the poor condition of the taxi. Just his luck. There were plenty of holes burned into the seats, and the thickness of the stench of smoke was beginning to make his eyes water.

He pulled out his phone and checked for texts. His stepmom had told him to meet her at the baggage claim, and Blaine had asked whether Kurt had been needing any assistance with Sebastian. He decided to call him to pass the time and distract him from the disgustingness he was currently sitting in.

"Kurt! Hi! How are you?"

"I'm good, Blaine. Sorry to call so late, but I guessed you would be up, it being a Friday night and all. Did I miss much in class today?"

"Nah, stage combat was hard, but you'll catch on quickly." He was silent for a few beats. "How is he?"

Kurt sighed. "He's good, all considered."

"Did he get any sleep last night? I barely did, and I had only witnessed the outcome."

"He had a nightmare, but as far as I can tell, there was only one. Rachel woke me up for it."

Blaine chuckled. "How did Rachel react to you bringing… what was it you used to call him?"

Kurt laughed softly. "The smirky little meerkat."

Blaine struggled to control his laughter. "How did Rachel take you letting the smirky meerkat live in your apartment for a while?"

"As well as expected," he drew on the fog on the window, "At first she thought I had lost it, but after I explained it, I think she actually felt sorry for him. Believe it or not, under all the psychotic self-absorption, I think Rachel might have a heart."

"Wow. Why is it so loud? Are you outside?"

Kurt lifted an eyebrow before he remembered he was in a taxi and he hadn't told Blaine about Carole coming to stay with him to help with Sebastian. "Yeah, I'm in a taxi. My stepmom's coming for a few days."

Blaine's eyes widened. "Why? Did something happen with Sebastian? I told you to call me immediately if you needed help with him…"

Kurt smiled lightly at his ex's concern. Blaine was too sweet for his own good sometimes. "No, no, you know how moms are. I told her what happened and she instantly came to the conclusion that I needed some help. She's just going to watch him while I'm in class and at work. Since she's a nurse, she's also going to help with Seb's physical recovery."

Blaine made a whistling sound. "She's so sweet, coming all the way from Lima last minute. I love her."

Kurt laughed. "Me too. If you want to, you could come over tomorrow for dinner."

"I don't want to be a bother, you have enough to worry about-"

"Does six work?" Kurt interjected, ignoring Blaine completely. He wasn't being a bother.

"Absolutely. Are you sure?"

"Of course. I think it would be good for Sebastian to see someone he knows besides me anyway. It's got to be pretty traumatic to finally escape your abusive fiancé and have to move in with someone you hated in high school. Not exactly the most predictable plot twist in history."

"Still, you're doing all you can. I think even Sebastian can appreciate that."

The airport came into view. "Alright, Blaine, I'm here. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Kurt." Blaine said energetically as Kurt hung up.

They pulled up in one of the many lanes designated for dropping off passengers by the doors. "That will be $37.46," the cabbie snapped.

Kurt measured out the cash with a $.54 tip. Since the guy had the personality of a brick and the hospitality of a retired drug addict, he didn't feel bad about shirking him out of a tip.

Before the cabbie could complain about his lack of gratuity, he got out and slammed the door closed behind him. They were three lanes from the sidewalk, and Kurt weaved through the vehicles before they sped up or a large truck trapped him on the moving road. Not to mention that one of these inconsiderate drivers might run him over just because they decided he was in the way.

He shoved his way through the crowd waiting for taxis or acquaintances to pick them up, trying to avoid the feelings of claustrophobia.

He made his way through the crowded airport, following the giant hanging signs to the baggage claim where his stepmother was waiting.

He wondered momentarily what she had told his father about his sudden visit. Maybe she had told him everything about Sebastian. He had no idea how he would feel if that were the case. He had told her he would explain all of it to his father, but at the same time he wished she had already told him. It was going to be so… _awkward_ to explain.

He spotted her leaning against a huge navy suitcase, talking to someone on the phone, her back to him.

"… I told you, Kurt's going to call you later and explain. He wanted to tell you himself." He could hear the sound of his father's gruff voice from the other end. "_Burt._ He's fine. I'm fine. I'll call you in the morning. I'll have Kurt call you in the morning as well." Kurt tapped her shoulder and she jumped a bit before turning and smiling at him. "Talk to you in the morning, bye."

She ended the call before throwing her arms around his neck. "It's been too long, sweetie!" She pulled back and looked at him, his hands resting on his biceps. "Look at you! Not only do you look even more handsome then before, but you started working out as well!"

He blushed. "Thanks Carole. You're as gorgeous as ever!"

She made a dismissive hand gesture and rolled her eyes. "Oh hon', I've gained so much weight since you left. Your father doesn't eat _anything_ that has healthy levels of sugar or fat."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "That's my dad alright." He took his suitcase from her and began wheeling it across the airport. "How's his heart?"

She looped her arm through his free one and gave it a squeeze. "He's fine. So is Finn. How's Sebastian?"

Kurt tried to word it correctly. "He's as good as can be expected. He only woke up once last night, which I assume is a good sign, although it might just be because of all the pain meds they have him on. He ate breakfast this morning, but he had an interview with the police before lunch, and skipped lunch and most of dinner."

She frowned. "Poor baby. I hope coming here isn't going to just make it worse."

Kurt shook his head. "No, if anything, it will probably make it better. He could use someone like you. If you could make someone as stubborn as me love you, Sebastian will be nothing."

"Have you talked to his parents?"

"No," he felt his mouth go dry. "Honestly, today has been so busy it didn't cross my mind. Shouldn't the hospital have called them when he arrived last night?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Unless he requested that they didn't. You said they let you and Blaine back to see him though. They wouldn't have been able to do that unless he claimed you were family or the doctor was an airhead."

Kurt was silent. Did Sebastian ask the doctor to let them both back to see him? How had he known Blaine was going to come? "I hadn't thought about it. I'll ask in the morning."

They reached the sidewalk and Kurt retracted the suitcase's long handle so he could pick it up. There were few things grosser than a New York City sidewalk.

For the second time that day he summoned his inner diva and screamed for a taxi, this time getting one in ten seconds. God, he loved the way things worked in New York.

"Where?" The driver grumbled.

Kurt gave him the address.

Carole looked a little taken aback by the rudeness of the cabbie. Kurt leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Welcome to New York."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled. The driver popped the trunk, but didn't make a single move to help them get the luggage.

Kurt opened the taxi door, and helped Carole in before shoving her suitcase in the trunk and sliding in himself.

Once they pulled away from the airport, Carole gasped. "Oh Kurt, look at the lights." From the road they were on, they could see the skyline of Manhattan. "It's beautiful."

Kurt smiled at her excitement over something he saw every morning. Then again, he and Rachel had been the same ways their first week here. After classes started and they got jobs, the charming appearance of the city became unappreciated. Their gazes stopped lingering out windows, and focused on things such as their phones or whatever else they happened to be doing.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Carole unconsciously touched his shoulder. "Finn wanted me to say hi and to tell you not to let Rachel drag you into anything too crazy."

Kurt shook his head and smiled. "Too late. I live with her. _Everything _she does is crazy."

They rode the rest of the way to the apartment in a comfortable silence. Kurt couldn't wait to get home and fall asleep, it had been a long day. God, he was going to have a lot of those, wasn't he?

Kurt gave the cabbie the same tip he gave the other one, the cents until he reached the next dollar, and hurried to get them up to the apartment before they fell asleep.

"The building's very quaint," his stepmother observed, the darkness preventing her from seeing that it was actually just disgusting and run down.

Kurt unlocked the door to his home and ushered her inside, apologizing for the fact that the only bed he could offer her was the couch since Sebastian was sleeping on his floor.

"Oh Kurt, it's absolutely perfect honey, thank you," she hugged him last time before kissing him on the cheek. "Now go to bed, it's late. I'll be here in the morning. Night!"

"Night," he whispered back and hurried off to his room.

He quickly changed into his pajamas, careful not to disturb Sebastian. Or step on one of his sprawling limbs. _God_, how his arms and legs were that long without ingesting Miracle Grow was beyond him.

He glanced down at Sebastian one last time before going to sleep himself.

His shirt had ridden up, revealing a bruise over his hip bone and the blanket was barely up to his waist. Kurt gently pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. It was freezing in there; just looking at Sebastian was making him cold.

Sebastian whispered in his sleep and moved his arm. Kurt tensed up and waited for him to scream or to start saying names or phrases, but he just sighed and stayed asleep.

Kurt curled up on his own bed and tried to focus on sleeping, and not the boy sleeping on the floor less than three feet away. Sebastian was a silent sleeper when he wasn't having nightmares, his breathing light and gentle. It was odd, having someone else in your bedroom and not being able to hear them unless you tried.

He was used to Blaine, but Blaine's breathing had always made a soft whistling. Not to mention that they had always been touching while they slept; no space between them. He felt like Sebastian could disappear and he wouldn't notice.

Kurt rolled back over and looked at Sebastian's face closely. His eyes fluttered every once in a while, and his chest moved in slow, large motions. His expression was serene, his lips parted slightly as he breathed…

Why was he _noticing_ these things?

He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

**###**

**So? I love Carole so much and she just kept nudging me to be a part of this so I gave in. Hope you guys are enjoying this so far!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	9. Chapter 8

**Here you go! The next chapter of Mosaic! Also, a lot of you wanted to know when I was going to bring up Seb's parents (I bet some people believe I've forgotten he has them) but they will be coming up in the next chapter!**

**Thanks so much to those who have taken the time to review! Your critics help my writing and plotting, not to mention that bubble of happiness that swells up in my stomach every time I read one. I'm so glad you're enjoying this story!**

**Enjoy!**

**###**

_**Chapter 8**_

Kurt woke up late. Again. It was eight. Even on the weekends he didn't sleep in this late. His inner clock was all screwed up. The sun was already streaming through the cheap maroon curtains and shining in his eyes.

He sat up and rubbed at his eyes, not surprised to find that Sebastian was already awake. The only evidence that he had been there the pile of unfolded blankets on top of his pillow. Kurt rolled his eyes; of _course _Sebastian couldn't fold them instead of tossing them in a pile. Sometimes he forgot who he was rooming with.

Kurt would come back and fold them later. First he needed to identify the source of the heavenly smells emitting from the kitchen.

Oh God, it smelled like _blueberry pancakes_.

He pulled back the measly curtain that separated his room from the main room and was assaulted by the full on sun in his eyes. He had to blink a few times before he could even make out blurry silhouettes.

"Morning, Kurt," Rachel yelled in what counted to her as an inside voice.

He was surprised she was home, usually she was already out and about by now. She and Sebastian were seated at the table, while his stepmom flipped pancakes. He was right, they were her amazing blueberry pancakes.

"Morning," he mumbled back. Rachel was already perky and happy, but Kurt didn't just have a switch to flip in order to fully wake up like she did. He needed time. And coffee. Lots of coffee.

Sebastian looked decently rested. His bruised and battered face was hard to ignore, his eye still almost swollen shut and the sewn gash from his temple to his cheek gruesome looking. His bruised neck and wrists were green. Kurt didn't want to think about the rainbow of colors the rest of his body was.

"Did you take your meds yet?" Kurt asked, slipping into the chair across from him, Rachel to his left.

Sebastian nodded and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stick up even more. "Mrs. Hudson had me take them earlier."

Kurt was shocked Sebastian had called her Mrs. Hudson. He didn't know Sebastian had a polite bone in his body.

Carole laughed, "I already told you Sebastian, call me Carole. No one calls me Mrs. Hudson."

His cheeks turned a light pink. "Alright, Carole."

She turned the stove off and placed the pan in the sink. "So, who's hungry?"

Kurt could feel his mouth watering as she placed the platter in the middle of the table. One of the pacts he had made with Rachel when they moved to the Big Apple was they would be dieting buddies, and he hadn't had quality carbs in over a month. "Screw dieting, I'm going to eat until I blow up."

Rachel sent him a slightly condescending look, but didn't say anything.

He rolled his eyes. Little Miss Broadway could judge all she wanted. He had abs and huge biceps. He could eat pancakes if he wanted to.

Sebastian took some first. Kurt was delighted that his appetite had returned. Yesterday had scared him; he had begun to think the reason he didn't want to eat and his almost skeletal physic was the result of an eating disorder...

"These smell amazing, Carole." Sebastian whispered before taking a bite. "Oh my _God_, they taste even better."

Kurt refrained from asking whether Sebastian needed some alone time with his breakfast. His stepmother wouldn't approve. Instead he served himself some breakfast and began to eat, the food too good for him to bother starting conversation.

"Where did you get the floor and blueberries?" Rachel asked. They didn't usually have either of those things. They only had whole wheat flour, which it was very clear these were not made from.

"I walked down to the convenience store earlier this morning. I wanted to see the sunrise over the skyline. It was breathtaking," she laughed. "I know why you all love it here. The views alone…."

"How long are you going to stay?" Rachel asked. Kurt wondered if she was generally interested or whether she just wanted to know how long Hotel Hummel was going to stay in business.

"Just a few days hon'," Carole offered with a dismissive hand gesture.

Rachel smiled. "If you would be interested, there are a few showings of Funny Girl tonight. Maybe you could come to one."

"Absolutely! When are they?"

Kurt tuned out of the conversation and thought through his schedule for the weekend. He had a really late shift that night, Blaine was coming for dinner at six, and on top of that, he had to monitor Sebastian. He was worried; he seemed too okay for someone who had endured what he did.

It wasn't like Kurt wanted him to be an emotional wreck, but he felt like that's exactly what Sebastian should be after what he went through.

What worried Kurt the most though was that he was bottling it up, and without warning, he would explode. Like when he would hold in all the bad things he wanted to say to people at school and take it out on his father at the end of the day. Although on a much larger-

"Would you two like to come?" Carole asked, snapping him off of his train of thought.

Kurt made eye contact with Sebastian. He shrugged casually. Kurt wondered whether he was actually ready to be in a place filled to the brim with rude New Yorkers. Sebastian seemed like he could handle it, but Kurt worried it was just an act. It had been less than two days since Kurt had pulled him from a living hell. "I'll think about it."

"It's around seven," Rachel supplied, her hands moving in extravagant hand gestures only she could pull off. "It would be so great if you both could come! Especially since you didn't come opening night Kurt!"

Sebastian rubbed his neck uncomfortably. Kurt knew she hadn't done it on purpose, but sometimes Rachel could be so… _inconsiderate. _ Casually bringing up the night an incident that landed him in the hospital went down was not in Sebastian's best interest.

"Yeah," Kurt picked at a loose string on his pajama pants. "Blaine's coming by for dinner at six, and I have a late shift at work, but I'll try to make it." Probably not. But he didn't want to burst her bubble just yet.

"Oh, Blaine's coming by?" Carole laughed. "I haven't seen him since you graduated!"

Kurt lifted a side of his mouth and nodded. "Yeah."

"What time's your shift, Kurt?" Rachel asked.

"Late. Nine to midnight. I would just ask Santana to take it for me, I'm way too tired to go to work, but I already had her take mine yesterday. She's going to start accusing me of stuff if I ask again."

Carole furrowed her eyebrows. "Like what?"

"You don't want to know," Kurt and Rachel responded in unison.

"Trust them," Sebastian murmured.

Carole leaned back. "I'll take your word on it. So who wants to do the dishes?"

###

Rachel and Carole went shopping around noon. Rachel loved spending money, and Carole wanted to see some of the monstrous malls littered across the city.

Kurt was glad; he wanted to give Sebastian some time to breathe. Both of them meant well, and Carole most certainly knew how to act and what to say around him, but he could tell Sebastian could use some time where he could just… relax.

Plus he had needed time to call his father and explain everything. Something he most certainly was _not_ looking forward to.

He unlocked his phone and dialed his number before he could chicken out.

His father picked up on the first ring. "Kurt."

"Hey Dad." He locked himself in the bathroom, something he always did when he wanted some privacy during a phone call.

"What's going on?"

He dragged a hand over his face. "It's a long story."

"I've got time."

"Do you remember Sebastian Smythe?"

"That kid that stalked Blaine and drove you up the walls?"

"Yep."

"What about him? Did he pull something? Do I need to come up there?"

"No, no. It's nothing like that. But I found out about something, something that had to do with him, and now he's staying here for a little while."

"What do you mean? He's staying in New York?"

Kurt sighed. Might as well get it over with. "No. At our apartment."

"What?! Why? Kurt, what the hell is going on?"

"He didn't exactly have many people he could stay with, so I offered."

"Why did he need someone to stay with?"

"And this is where it gets complicated…"

###

After he explained everything to his dad, who while still clearly a bit doubtful understood what Kurt was doing, supported his decision. He admitted he wasn't comfortable with the idea of a gay guy with an incredibly notorious history living with his son, but Kurt assured him that with all of the things Sebastian had gone through, he wouldn't be able to try anything. He was too weak physically, not to mention emotionally.

"Alright. Just promise you'll call if you need something? And call the police-"

"Dad. He's limping around the apartment. He won't try anything. I'll call you again sometime soon, okay?"

"Alright. Talk to you later kiddo."

"Bye."

Kurt hung up and finally left the tiny little bathroom to search for his freakishly tall roommate.

Sebastian was sprawled across the couch, mindlessly watching the news channel.

"How did you sleep?" Kurt knew small talk was most likely not something Sebastian felt like engaging in, but he wanted to drag him out of the prison of his mind every once in a while. He knew from personal experience that there was no danger greater to someone who was emotionally confused or hurt then their own thoughts.

Sebastian pulled his legs to his chest. Kurt noticed this was something he did often. He always did it when something made him uncomfortable. "Well. I woke up a few times, but I fell back asleep pretty quickly."

"What woke you up?"

Sebastian shrugged.

"That doesn't work for me." Kurt hated to have to be so… rude, but he didn't want Sebastian to close himself off. Kurt's dad had let him after his mom died, and it only made things worse. "Was it nightmares?"

Sebastian's trademarked smirk made its first appearance since they had moved from Lima. "Just some steamy sex dreams is all."

Kurt had to mask his surprise. He didn't expect Sebastian's snarky side to make an appearance. "For real."

"Seriously, princess," he jabbed back.

Kurt didn't know how to respond. Not only was he acting like a dick, but he had brought up Kurt's old nickname. Kurt tried to remember that Sebastian's life was hell right now so he wouldn't retort with something he would regret.

He wanted to keep pressing, show Sebastian how stubborn he could be, but at the same time, he knew the harder he pressed, the more closed off Sebastian would become. That was the problem; Sebastian was just as stubborn as he was.

After all, it's what he did. Joke and jab so you can avoid answering questions that hurt. Like jumping over hot coals instead of running through them.

Kurt did it too.

"Do you actually want to go see Rachel's show? I can text Blaine and ask him to linger so we can conveniently be busy," Kurt offered. "I have work at nine anyway, so it won't be too hard."

Sebastian shrugged again. "Sure. I'm not in the mood for Berry performances anyway."

Kurt wanted to keep him talking, but he couldn't think of much to say. He wanted to ask whether Sebastian was planning to attend class on Monday but now didn't seem like the time. Not to mention all of the bad memories it would most likely resurface.

Well, there was that one thing he should mention before Sunday…

"So," Kurt awkwardly rubbed his palms together. "Tomorrow afternoon the hospital scheduled your first session with a psychologist."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I don't need a head shrink. I'm fine."

"Seb-"

"Kurt, I don't need some forty-something-year-old to assure me that _I matter _or some load of shit like that," he snapped.

Kurt fell back against the couch, his energy draining the longer he argued. "Just… _humor me. _I swear, the minute you get a clean bill of mental health, I'll cancel all the proceeding sessions."

Sebastian groaned in response, but didn't say another word. Kurt could live with that.

"It's at two."

"Delightful."

Kurt gave up. Sebastian obviously didn't want to be spoken to, and Kurt wasn't up for the effort.

So he pulled himself into the kitchen and tried to come up with what he was going to make for dinner.

###

Sebastian had decided to shower before Blaine came over, and Rachel was performing Funny Girl, finally providing Kurt some alone time with his stepmother.

"He's so much better than I expected," she said as she sliced through some mushrooms for the chicken marsala she insisted on preparing for dinner.

Kurt took some of them and tossed them into sauce heating on the stove. "I know. I'm just worried that he's holding it all in and at some point soon he'll just… crumble."

"Kurt, maybe that's exactly what he's doing, but all you can do is be there for him when he shatters," she stopped chopping to look him in the eyes. "You can't force him to open up."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I just wish he wouldn't be so… _stubborn_."

Carole laughed. "You sound like your dad when he's complaining about you."

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of ironic." A small smile tugged at his lips.

They fell into a silence, the only sounds in the apartment were the noises bubbling up from the stove and the shower running.

"Have you seen how thin he is?" Kurt asked, his voice low.

She nodded. "Did his fiancé do that too?"

"I'm not sure," Kurt admitted. "I think it could be Danny or he could've been doing it to himself. Then again, he's always been thin."

"You think he has an eating disorder?"

Kurt bit his lip. "I don't know. Sometimes he appears to love food, others…"

"An eating disorder is serious." She put the knife down to give him her full attention. "Honey, if you think he has one-"

"I'm not sure. I might just be incredibly paranoid."

Carole hadn't seen anything to suggest Kurt's idea was correct; the boy ate at breakfast. But if her time as a nurse had taught her anything, it was people with these sorts of problems were amazing at hiding them until they became life threatening. "I'll help you keep an eye on him," she announced finally. "When's his next scheduled doctor visit?"

"Not until next week, I think it's Monday or something. It's just to see whether he's adapting well and for them to take his stitches out." Kurt wasn't looking forward to it. He hated hospitals with every fiber of his being.

"Are you planning on attending school on Monday?"

He nodded. "I already missed yesterday. Besides, if Sebastian's still not ready for it by the time you leave, Blaine and I only have a class or two together, so I can have him come over and stay with him."

"Honey, you don't need to babysit him. Some time alone will probably help."

Kurt knew she might be right, that smothering him wasn't healthy, but at the same time, he was worried that if he was allowed time without supervision-

No. He had to quit this. He is not a psychologist, he has no clue what was going through Sebastian's head. He shouldn't act like he does.

"You're probably right." He didn't like it, but she had more experience with these situations then he prayed he ever would.

She returned to the task of cooking. "The bigger question though, is when will he go back to school?"

He had no answer. That wasn't up to him; it all depended on how quickly Sebastian healed himself and how much he let those who wanted to assist him, help him put the broken and chipped pieces of his life back together.

He cringed as ragged coughing emitted from the bathroom. He wondered whether it hurt Sebastian's bruised sides. He resisted the urge to place a hand against his own ribs; to feel his own lungs expand and deflate.

He didn't. Instead he went back to cooking and thought about all of the questions Blaine would have.

And all the answers Kurt wouldn't.

**###**

**Love it? Like it? Hate it? Review it!**

**My chapters are going to get MUCH longer in a few chapters. They've been hiting 4k+. Also, Kurt and Sebastian are going to start... what's the word... _noticing _each other soon. So you have multiple things to look forward to my dear beloved readers!**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	10. Chapter 9

**I love you guys so much! Sorry, random spurt of affection toward my readers. That was weird. Sorry.**

**I've passed 50 reviews! You guys are absolutely amazing! Like seriously, there aren't words for how excited I am over this.**

**Here's that upcoming length I promised. The next few chapters are all closer to 4k than 3k! Yay! Longer chapters!**

**I really enjoyed writing this chapter (even though it took forever), so I hope you guys like it!**

**Enjoy!**

**###**

**CHAPTER 9**

Sebastian splashed cold water on his face. Blaine would be there any minute and he needed to pull his shit together.

He knew now was not the time for a total breakdown; Kurt would figure out something was up if he turned the sink on. The amount of time he would need would be suspicious, especially to Kurt's stepmother. He was surprised by how easily she picked up on things.

He tried to drag his hand over his face, but it hurt his jaw and eye, so he settled for rolling his head and shaking his hands as he paced.

"Pull it together, Smythe. You're fine," he murmured.

He didn't even understand what his problem was. One minute he had been fine, at least as fine as he could be, when suddenly he started thinking about how Danny and he had never had any dinner parties. For no reason; it just happened to cross his mind.

He felt the breakdown coming, the urges to cry, scream, punch things were swelling up in his brain. He had whispered something about using the bathroom before rushing out so no one could sense something was wrong.

His eyes were burning, but he knew he could keep the tears back. He just needed to compose himself.

He splashed his face with water again, and glared at himself in the mirror. He hated what he saw. Ugly bruises and imperfections. Eyes the color of mold. Hair the color of dirt. Ashen skin and awkwardly long limbs. Weight he couldn't seem to shake no matter how hard he tried.

An ugly used-to-be whore. That's what he was after all. Someone who let other people use him for their own pleasure and was too weak to refuse and maintain some form of dignity.

Sebastian stood up straight and shook his head a few more times before leaving the bathroom.

He was shocked to open the door to Kurt standing directly in front of it. "You okay?"

He pulled up his mask. "Absolutely. Urinating isn't a very stressful activity."

Kurt shook his head. "Don't lie to me. I know you didn't use the bathroom; didn't hear the toilet flush and I don't find you the type to forget that sort of thing." He sighed. "Just promise me you'll let me know if you need a break tonight or something, okay?"

Sebastian was struck silent, something he was beginning to get used to around Kurt. "Fine."

He could feel blood rushing to his cheeks as he thought over how stupid he was. Kurt had caught him. He wasn't used to actually _trying_ to keep up appearances. People normally bought whatever excuse he came up with, no matter how pathetic it was.

"It's five past six, Blaine should be here any minute," Carole called out as she placed the final platter along the small table. "Will Rachel make it back at all tonight?"

Kurt glanced at Rachel's calendar beside the refrigerator. "She won't be back until at least nine. She's probably going to do something with the cast, so I wouldn't expect her until midnight."

"Should I put some food aside for her?"

He shook his head. "She always goes out for dinner afterwards."

"Alright," Carole said just as someone knocked on the apartment door.

"I'll get it," Kurt volunteered just as Sebastian attempted to adjust the sleeves of his green button down.

Carole had bought it for him while she was shopping with Rachel. She had called Kurt while they were near the department stores, and he had just estimated his size. She also bought him a pair of jeans, which Sebastian was incredibly grateful for, so that he could look decent when Blaine came over.

Kurt hadn't even thought of that. He would have been mortified if he had to wear sweatpants and a hoodie when they had company.

When he had told her, Carole had simply laughed at him and joked about the meltdown he would have had had it been him. He tried not to be offended, after all; it was completely true.

He pulled the door open and smiled at the sight of the shorter, curly raven haired boy before him. "Hey Blaine."

"Kurt!" He hugged him before Kurt ushered him in. "Carole!"

"Hey there!" She hugged him and fawned over him the way only your own mother usually did. "Look at you!"

Kurt tuned out as they gushed over each other, Blaine complimenting how great Carole looked while she went on and on over how well Kurt had told her Blaine was doing at NYADA.

Kurt motioned for Carole to help him pretend to be fixing things in the kitchen while Blaine spoke to Sebastian.

After only a minute, they joined Kurt and Carole in the kitchen.

Sebastian felt relieved; all Blaine had wanted was to know was how he was sleeping and whether he and Kurt were getting along. Sebastian was actually surprised by how civilized they were around each other. He had started them off on a bad foot when they first met, so it was no wonder they had detested each other. But now… he actually enjoyed Kurt's company. He'd never tell him that of course, because that would be girly and sappy.

Not to mention what had happened the last time he had enjoyed someone's company. It had turned into a crush, then a date, followed by a boyfriend, to be wrapped up with an abusive fiancé. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, especially not himself, but he was scared. Scared of being hurt again. Of someone taking advantage of his loyalty. He was a pain in the ass and stubborn as hell, but when he decided he loved you, he never stopped.

He was yanked out of his thoughts by Blaine. "I had some friends take notes during the classes you missed yesterday. I forgot to bring them today, but I can drop them off for you tomorrow if you would like."

Sebastian nodded. "That would be great, thanks."

Kurt raised an eyebrow but didn't say a single thing. Sebastian wasn't known to say 'thank you' or anything even remotely civilized.

The meal was eaten in silence, but it wasn't a bad thing. What little bit Sebastian had himself eat to keep up appearances was delicious, which explained the lack of words from the others at the table.

"Not very hungry?" Kurt prompted.

Sebastian scanned his face and couldn't tell why he was asking. Did he suspect something or did he just assume Sebastian didn't have a thing for Chicken Marsala?

He took a bite and offered a shadow of a smile. "Sorry, lost in thought."

"Alright, how about I make some hot chocolate and we catch up?" Carole suggested.

"Perfect!" Blaine piped up. "I'll help you."

Blaine and Carole turned their backs on Kurt and Sebastian long enough for Kurt to send him a slightly worried look. "You should eat."

Sebastian weighed his odds and took two small bites before shoving his plate further away. "Honestly, I'm just not hungry."

Kurt cleared the table and debated forcing Sebastian to eat something. His act wasn't fooling him. Kurt could see the way Seb stared at food; he wanted it, he just wouldn't allow himself to have it.

Carole and Blaine handed everyone their steaming mugs before settling down back at the table.

"So, Kurt and I were going to do it soon at some point anyway, but maybe tomorrow we could go walking through Washington Square Park." Blaine sipped from his drink.

Carole nodded. "I'd love that! I could use some fresh air."

Kurt figured the air would do everyone some good, especially Sebastian. "Sure. What about around four tomorrow evening?"

"Perfect!" Blaine's eyes danced with delight. Kurt was glad to see the other boy so happy.

The rest of the evening went well, the small chat enjoyable and refreshing.

Sebastian became tired and excused himself. He knew going to bed wasn't an option, so he settled for watching TV.

Once the TV was blaring, Blaine leaned over and sent Kurt a look of concern. "He's so quiet."

Kurt nodded. "I know. I can't… I just can't believe how different he is sometimes. I've only seen a hint of the old Sebastian twice or so, and now… I'm beginning to think that was another one of his masks. Since I never knew him well, I just don't know what to do."

Carole rubbed his shoulder and glanced at her watch. "Will you two be okay with him? I promised Rachel I would attend one of her shows tonight."

Kurt nodded. "Absolutely. Just text me when you're on your way back so I can make sure to open the apartment door incase Rachel does something afterwards."

She smiled. "It was great to see you Blaine. See you boys later."

Carole decided to go for it, and walked up behind Sebastian. She tentatively touched his shoulder and cringed when he flinched. "I'm off to see Rachel's show. See you in the morning."

Sebastian offered a vague nod and faint smile, but he didn't look up into her eyes. She wanted to wrap her arms across his shoulders and ty her best to make everything okay in her motherly way, but she knew that wouldn't work with him. So she smiled back and left.

Kurt turned back to Blaine. "He's been like this all day. Detached."

"Maybe it's the only way he can cope, Kurt," Blaine suggested, his expression growing dejected. "He's had to endure something unimaginable for a year; it changes you."

"Do you think he'll ever be, well, _Sebastian_ again?"

"I don't know-"

Suddenly the sound of shattering ceramic filled their ears. They both rushed toward the source of the noise, and Kurt's stomach flipped.

Sebastian's face was pale and his eyes red. His shaky hands were convulsing over open air that had once contained a mug of hot chocolate.

Sebastian alone made Kurt's heart sink to his shoes, but when he saw what was on the TV he immediately understood the boy's pain.

It was his fiancé, Danny. He looked like he had been crying and was sporting a black eye and broken nose. He was dressed in a pressed baby blue dress shirt and beige dress pants. He was speaking to an interviewer who kept casting him glances of sympathy. That's when the words finally connected with the imagery.

"… We all admire your bravery over this situation and your honesty."

Danny sniveled. "Thank you. It's been hard, but now that I've finally decided to speak up, I can say with confidence that my fiancé will be punished for his crimes."

"How do you think the court is going to react to two people both accusing the other of domestic violence?"

He gave a weak smile at the camera. "I can just hope and pray they'll pick the correct side."

The story changed and Kurt finally pulled himself away long enough to look behind him at the blank expression of the true victim.

"Sebastian," Blaine had a hand on the lanky boy's shoulder. But it was as if they weren't there. As if Sebastian was suddenly blind and deaf.

Kurt sat beside him but didn't dare to touch him. Blaine was much more comforting, much more compassionate. He would do nothing but hinder.

Blaine rubbed his thumb over the top of Sebastian's shoulder, "Seb?"

Sebastian blinked a few times and dropped his head against his knees. "This can't be happening."

Blaine rubbed his back. "Sebastian, he won't succeed. You have more evi-"

"What if he still wins anyway?" He whispered, "No one will believe the fat, weasel of a whore over Danny! He's perfect, and I'm-"

Kurt shut him up. "Sebastian, Danny is so _far_ from perfect it's sad." Kurt wasn't good at this sort of thing, but he was going to try anyway. "You will win. You aren't fat, you don't look like a weasel, although I'm still questioning whether you have relations to a meerkat, and I swear, it you ever call yourself a whore again, I will kill you."

Sebastian's hands were shivering so badly from the heavy emotions that refused to release him that Kurt didn't stop himself from reaching out and holding onto them.

Blaine's other arm came around the emotional boy and he began to whisper soothing nothings to calm him down.

Slowly, Sebastian began to relax. He was still trying not to cry, tears welled up but not falling. His shoulders would shiver every once in a while, started at the base of his spine and working their way up.

Sebastian couldn't believe this. Not only was he having one of his too often mental breakdowns but now he was having it in front of Kurt _and_ Blaine. The night he had gotten here had been bad enough. His father would have beaten him senseless if he could see him now, shaking like a leaf in another man's arms…

His father had never approved of his sexuality. Even though his father's preference was frowned upon even more then Sebastian's own.

Sebastian remember the first day he had been caught kissing another boy. It had been in 8th grade and it was during one of those stupid middle school basketball games.

Sebastian had been trying to get his crush to kiss him for months. They were both still in the closet, and by some miracle, they had found each other. It was a classic middle school romance; late night phone calls and holding hands when no one else was looking. Stolen glances and smiles that they believed where only theirs.

Moments between them and them alone.

Sebastian had pretended he needed to use the bathroom, and his crush, Jared, had faked a soda run.

They hadn't planned for it to actually happen, but the hall was empty, and Sebastian wanted his first kiss so badly…

He hadn't thought anything though; all he knew is one minute he was reaching out for Jared's hand and the next he was kissing him.

It had been perfect. Not too sloppy, but not too talented either. All Sebastian knew was that he was lucky. Too many people would never get such a perfect first kiss.

At least, that was until his dad showed up and began screaming obscenities. Sebastian had remembered whimpering as his father had grabbed his bicep and yanked him out the door, pain lacing through his arm at his father's vice like grip.

He had been whipped with the belt 10 times. Because his father said the kiss had gone on for ten seconds. His older brother had laughed at him, watching and saying a "filthy gay whore" deserved the pain. Anyone weak enough to cry during a beating, needed the suffering to make them a man.

He wasn't a real man though; he was just a scared, skanky homo with relationship issues. And all of it was his own fault.

Sebastian began to shake even harder at the memory. Blaine's arms wound around him tighter and he leaned his head into Blaine's warm shoulder, shamelessly seeking comfort.

Kurt softly stroked Seb's exposed upper arm and wished more than anything that he had Blaine's gift of compassion and the ability to soothe. His mother was amazing at it; so was his stepmother. But he had gotten his father's genes in that department. He wanted to be comforting, he tried, but he always felt like he was doing something wrong. And he usually ended up making things more awkward than anything else.

"We will win, Bas," Kurt murmured. "We're going to lock him up and he will never lay a finger on you again."

Sebastian opened his eyes and dared to look up at Kurt, his red rimmed, green orbs searching Kurt's gray and blue ones. He saw the silent confirmation, and his expression lightened.

He sat up and let out a shaky breath. "I hope you're right."

**###**

By the time Blaine had left, and Sebastian had calmed down, Kurt was beginning to drift off.

Sebastian was watching some vacation paradise reality TV show, and they were both seated on the couch. Kurt had cleaned up the broken ceramic and hot chocolate from earlier, but neither of them let their feet touch the ground anyway.

He had called into work and explained a bit of his predicament and gotten the next few days off. He couldn't imagine having work on top of NYADA on Monday.

Sebastian had gotten ready for bed, his hoodie and sweatpants swallowing him whole, and Kurt was still trying to process the events of earlier that day.

So now on top of trauma, minor shock, possible eating disorders and all the other crap life had dumped on Sebastian, they had to worry about whether Danny's case over ruled Sebastian's.

If Kurt was being completely honest, Danny didn't have a chance. Sebastian had been hospitalized, completed a rape kit, and he had witnesses of him accusing his fiancé of abuse. Not to mention the sheets in their apartment that had been soaked in blood and semen. Or the blood on the knife Danny used to mangle Sebastian's face. Or the older bruises and scars proving that the abuse had been going on for a while.

Sebastian's stomach growled. He winced; his stomach hurt from hunger, which wasn't surprising considered he had purged everything he'd eaten that day besides the few bites of dinner Kurt had made him consume. He couldn't bring himself to eat; he was disgusted with himself already and the food just made him feel worse.

"What do you want?" Kurt stretched and stood up before padding into the kitchen.

"Not hungry," he mumbled, hoping against hope Kurt wouldn't press him.

No such luck. "I know you are, so stop giving me that load of bull. I'm not going to force you into eating a feast, but I'm not going to let you do this to yourself."

"I'm not doing anything to-"

"Yes you are," Kurt was struggled to keep his voice even. "I don't know if you honestly believe you're fat or whether you think that this is some sort of punishment you deserve, but I'm not going to let you starve yourself."

Normally Sebastian would start arguing, saying stuff about Kurt fretting over him like he was some self-loathing freshman girl, but arguing with Kurt wouldn't get him anywhere. Especially when Kurt read his mind.

"Please, just let-"

"You're eating something right now. And if you don't cooperate, I'm telling Carole. She will not let you off easy."

Sebastian was quiet so Kurt decided to just make him some simple toast. Kurt knew this probably wasn't a new thing, and he had read somewhere that people who had been starving had extremely sensitive stomachs.

He spread some butter over it and rejoined Sebastian on the couch.

"Here, eat this," Kurt handed it over to Sebastian who took a small bite hesitantly. "I know it's not that great or anything, but it's good for you."

"Whole wheat?" Sebastian cringed slightly. He was more so joking than anything, and luckily Kurt picked up on that.

"Sorry it isn't caviar," Kurt quipped back, a faint smile tracing his face.

They returned to watching the show, neither of them really paying attention. Sebastian finished one piece, but didn't appear to have any intentions of finishing the other. Kurt could live with him just eating one; he still considered it an accomplishment that he got him to eat at all.

Sebastian fell asleep quickly after that, his head propped on the arm rest. Kurt switched the TV off and carefully covered Sebastian with a blanket.

His hair was flopped over his forehead and Kurt carefully pushed it back, the serene expression on Seb's face making Kurt smile.

Gosh, if he wasn't careful, he might actually start _liking_ Sebastian.

Kurt smirked. _Him?_ Liking _Sebastian_?

Yeah right.

###

**So? Like it? Hate it? This chapter was hard to write, so I hope it was at least some what enjoyable. Let me know what you think via reviews! **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


	11. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! So I have a really good reason for not updating. OUR WIFI BROKE. Seriously, I kid you not, I have been living without wifi. And it has been nothing short of a struggle. I have been dying to post this chapter, and I couldn't because something was wrong with our router (one of my siblings knocked it off of the computer table). **

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed this story. You guys are amazing and I couldn't ask for better readers.**

**Enjoy!**

###

_**Chapter 10**_

Sebastian wasn't known to be overly patient, or even tolerant for that matter, but he was ready to kick his therapist in the nuts.

He only had ten minutes left of his session, but he wasn't sure how much more of this he could handle.

Dr. Hassen had spent the whole time spewing on and on about how Sebastian _felt_ about every freaking thing. He knew that was going to happen, but that didn't make it any less annoying. Sebastian was known for short answers and this guy didn't seem to appreciate his curtness.

So on top of the therapist trying to make him discuss his personal life, he wanted him to use lots of words. Yeah, dream on.

They had already attempted to discuss Danny, but after Sebastian's completely successful avoidance of the subject, they had moved on to a topic he liked even less; his childhood.

"How was your relationship with your parents?"

He shrugged and began picking at the seam along the arm of the overly stuffed chair. "Fine."

"What was your mother like?"

"Motherly."

Dr. Hassen frowned. "And your father?"

"Fucking fatherly."

Dr. Hassen placed his notepad on his lap. "Sebastian, these sessions have no purpose if you don't actually talk to me."

"So what am I doing right now?"

"Avoiding things that make you uncomfortable."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. He didn't have time for this drama. "Alright, you want the truth, doc? My mother is a doormat and my father is a homophobic asshole."

"And now we're getting somewhere. How did your father act out his homophobia?"

Sebastian's stomach tightened. He wouldn't share too much, just enough. "He would embarrass me every chance he got." _And hit me. But it was with a belt, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been._

"How?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Call me a fag. Yell at me around the family and friends. The usual. One time he even had a pastor pray over me for like an hour in the middle of a church sermon."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Like a freaking unicorn," he snapped. "How do you think?"

"Like you were worthless. Like no matter what you did, how smart you were, how many things you accomplished, you would never be good enough all because of your sexual orientation."

Sebastian was taken aback. The past guidance counselors and therapists he had seen didn't usually say stuff like that. They never… well, read your mind. He realized he was staring and pulled his mask back on. "Yeah, whatever. It just made me hate him. I know I'm amazing. Ask anyone."

"Sometimes narcissism is just a cover up for low self-esteem."

"Not in my case."

"Sebastian, despite what society tells you, low self-esteem is common in men-"

"That's great. But as I said earlier, I'm fine. I love myself."

"Sebastian, we both know-"

"_No we don't!_" Alright, he was going to lose it. "You don't know anything! No one does! _I know_ everything about me and I don't need some sappy middle age loser to tell me what to do, how I was treated, or who _the freaking hell I am_!"

Dr. Hassen just stared at him. At first Sebastian believed he had shocked the man into silence, but Dr. Hassen was just waiting for him to finish.

A few minutes later, after they had eyed each other as Sebastian cooled down, Dr. Hassen glanced at his watch and smiled lightly. "Our time is about up, but I think we're off to a good start."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Sure. Whatever."

"I have one last question for you before you leave."

Sebastian flopped back in the chair. "What?"

"Who do _you_ think you are?"

"Excuse me?"

"You told me that only you knew who you were," Dr. Hassen leaned forward and looked Sebastian in the eyes. Sebastian didn't usually have problems with eye contact, but he could feel the doctor's eyes burning into his forehead and he couldn't bring himself to look up. "So tell me then, who are you?"

Sebastian snorted. "I'm an incredibly attractive arrogant dick with bad taste in men. I'd say that about sums me up."

Sebastian got up and started walking out before Dr. Hassen could nail him with a look and give him some sort of speech.

"See you in a few days Sebastian."

Sebastian just slammed the door and trudged into the waiting room. His energetic departure hurt his battered body. Not to mention his stomach had developed a pulse. Nausea seemed to be gaining normalcy recently.

Kurt glanced up from the magazine he had been engrossed in and took in Sebastian's disconcerted look. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and just motioned his head in the direction of the door.

Sebastian didn't even wait for Kurt; he just walked as swiftly as he could and barely registered what he was doing until he was sitting in the front seat of Kurt's car, his hands tucked under his arms to lessen their tremors.

Kurt got in and shut the door softly. "You're next session is on Tuesday."

"Peachy."

Kurt buckled his seatbelt and started the car. "You probably don't want to, but if you want to talk about it…"

"About what princess?"

Kurt sighed. "Why you came out of there looking like you were about to have a mental breakdown."

Sebastian bit back a snide remark. "I'm fine. I just wish people would leave me the _hell alone_."

Kurt felt like banging his head on the steering wheel. Gaga, there needed to be a freaking _manual_ on how to deal with Sebastian Smythe.

Kurt knew Seb wouldn't talk about it. Hell, he wouldn't talk about it if it had been him. But he just wanted some way to make Sebastian feel safe. To assure him that Danny was never going to touch him again.

He noticed that Seb's hands were shaking. Kurt swallowed back the emotions bubbling up. Sometimes he had to remind himself that someone could hurt Sebastian Smythe enough that just the thought of them made his hands convulse.

Without thinking, Kurt reached over and gently placed his hand over Sebastian's. Sebastian jumped pitifully, but didn't pull his hand back. They hit a spotlight and Kurt dared to glance at the shaking boy beside him.

Sebastian's face was turned to the window so Kurt couldn't see his expression, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to. Kurt had a feeling if he could see those emotional green eyes that he would lose it himself.

God, he was such a freaking dramatic cry baby.

"If you don't feel up to it, I can call Blaine and reschedule our park excursion this afternoon-"

"I'm fine," Sebastian whispered.

_Obviously,_ Kurt deducted. _You sound like if a feather landed in the right way, you'd shatter into a million pieces._

Sebastian's stomach started making noise and Kurt thought it was worth a shot. "Why don't we grab something to eat on the way home?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Not hungry."

Kurt tried insistency. His hand had been resting over the taller boy's, but he pulled it away to gesture dramatically. "No, seriously, there's this really good bakery Blaine showed me…"

Sebastian murmured, "I don't want anything."

Kurt knew he had skipped breakfast completely, not to mention the few meager bites Carole had managed to coax him into eating earlier that day. He was beginning to genuinely worry. "Please, Seb, you're not eating and it's scaring me."

"Please, Kurt," he still couldn't make out his expression but he sounded like he was about to breakdown. "I'm just… not hungry, okay?"

Kurt wanted to stop the car and grabbed Sebastian's face between his hands and list all of the extensive reasons as to why it was _not_ okay, but he realized of all the times to force him into something, after his counseling session was probably the worst time he could pick. "Okay."

Once they finally got back to the apartment, Sebastian sat on his make shift bed in Kurt's bedroom for some alone time while Kurt talked to Carole in the kitchen.

"He's scaring me," Kurt whispered, careful to keep his voice low enough to remain undetected to Sebastian, just in case he was listening. "He hasn't been eating. He woke up a couple times last night, although I'm not sure whether he had nightmares again or was just sleepless. Not to even mention how… _fragile_ he's gotten."

"Kurt, you have to calm down. He needs to start eating, but the other stuff is expected."

"I know, I just… I'm doing everything I can, and sometimes-" He swatted at his eyes. He was sure as hell not going to start _crying_. "I just don't know what to do."

"Just be there."

"I'm not even sure that he wants me there."

She laughs. "You and your father… what am I going to do with you too? Honey, if he didn't want you there, he would've told you. Sebastian has the least amount of self-restraint when it comes to his words that I've ever witnessed."

It was true. "Fine. Speaking of the meerkat, he has a check-up scheduled for tomorrow morning, but I'm going to see if I can push it back or change it to later tonight. They just want to check on his bruises and stitches."

She nodded. "Alright. I'm going to go put on some warmer clothes. Blaine should be here any minute."

"I'll go tell Seb," Kurt pulled his own coat off of the wall and realized he would probably need to get Seb one at some point soon. His sweatshirts wouldn't keep him warm in this weather.

He glanced at his watch. Blaine would be there in fifteen. He could pull an impromptu trip to one of the shops near the park and meet Carole and Blaine there.

Once he thought of it, there was no way he wasn't going through with the idea. He loved shopping anyway, but this was a genuine reason for it. Plus Seb could probably use some gloves too…

"Sebastian!"

The lanky boy poked his head through the curtain separating Kurt's bedroom from the general area.

"We're going shopping." Sebastian opened his mouth in a combination of shock and protest but Kurt hushed him with a raising of his hand. "No arguing. You need a winter jacket and I'm not going to let you freeze."

Sebastian's face turned red. "I'm fine."

Kurt was taken aback by his reaction. Almost like he was embarrassed over being shopped for. "'Bas, I'm not going to let you walk around Washington Square Park in a hoodie. Come on, I promise we'll be quick. If we take longer than fifteen minutes. Carole and Blaine will come and rescue you."

"Do I have to?" Sebastian grimaced at the idea of letting Princess shop for him. He'd probably come out looking like a cross-dressing Lady Gaga.

Kurt just glared and Sebastian rolled his eyes and pulled a sweater on over his button down.

"I'll text you from whatever store we stop by," Kurt murmured as he motioned Seb out the door. "See you Carole."

She nodded but Kurt could tell her mind was also on Sebastian's sudden attitude change.

He grabbed a taxi and tried to ignore the awkward silence. Sebastian was sitting up straight, his hands rubbing up and down his arms.

"Are you cold?" Kurt could tell the cab was chilly, but he didn't consider how cold it was for Sebastian.

He shook his head. "I think I'm allergic to your laundry detergent." He was scratching almost pitifully.

"Are you sure?"

"I didn't start itching until I put on this sweater that Carole washed for me."

"You mean to tell me you didn't wash your other clothes after you bought them?" Kurt couldn't imagine wearing clothes after you bought them. Strangers could have tried them on… Hygiene-phobic strangers…

Seb was trying to itch the middle of his back but even his long arms couldn't get to it.

"Here," Kurt didn't even think twice before softly scratching over Sebastian's back. He felt his muscles tighten up in surprise before he relaxed into the touch.

"Thanks," he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Kurt offered a smile and tried not to cringe at how he could feel Sebastian's protruding spine beneath his fingertips, his fingernails softly scraping over the ridges. He could feel the warmth of Sebastian's back through the thin shirt and sweater; the rise and fall of his lungs as he breathed.

Kurt didn't stop until they reached the stretch of shops by the park. Sebastian didn't complain and if anything, seemed to have enjoyed the distraction from his skin's irritation.

As soon as they got out of the vehicle, Sebastian began shivering. Kurt couldn't tell whether it was from the cold, or the social setting, but he hurriedly pulled Sebastian toward one of his favorite shops.

It was small and quaint; modestly small and owned by a French family. Kurt had to remind himself to focus on Sebastian and not look at anything that might further drain his limited finances.

"Alright, let's get you a coat and a pair of gloves," Kurt looked Sebastian over and tried to think over which kind of coat would flatter Seb's build and appearance.

"Can I help you?" One of the daughters walked over and asked. Kurt had seen her at the shop before, but only once or twice.

"Absolutely." Kurt quickly explained his situation and was grateful to be in the one store where the staff was close to as knowledgeable on fashion as he was himself.

She rushed to the back of the store and returned with an armful of jackets for the taller boy to try on.

Kurt already knew which one would look the best, but he let Sebastian try all of them on anyway. The last one, a slimming black coat with a thick layer of black wool was perfect. Kurt restrained from gushing over it, not wanting to draw any more attention to Sebastian. His face was already reddening.

Kurt was surprised at how little he enjoyed the spotlight. Sebastian used to be someone who would do anything for attention. Now it seemed as though he avoided it like the plague.

Sebastian dared to glance up at himself in the mirror momentarily. He hated mirrors, but he did want to make sure this high fashion whatever store Kurt dragged him into didn't dress him like a clown. He only let his eyes drift to his torso, and was pleasantly surprised. He didn't look ridiculous.

"This one is perfect!" Kurt looked up at Sebastian hopefully. Sebastian offered a slight smile and nod. "We'll take it! I also need a pair of gloves…"

Kurt and the girl walked off to where the gloves were while Sebastian slipped out of the jacket.

"I hate to be incredibly nosy, but what happened to him?" The girl asked, her expression subtle and voice low.

Kurt knew it was inevitable, Sebastian's swollen eye and jaw had turned a rotten hue of purple and he still had stitches lining the side of his face. Kurt would've been curious. "An accident."

"Ouch," she cringed. "Alright, here are all the gloves we have in stock. Some of them aren't that high end or attractive-"

"That most certainly will not be a problem." Kurt said as Sebastian joined them, the jacket folded under his arm. "He's not the fashion appreciating type."

She smiled. "Not everyone is. I can ring that up for you real quick while you pick out gloves so you can put it on. It's freezing out there."

Sebastian handed it to her and she ran off to the register.

"I'm guessing you would be a large. Since every other part of you is freakishly huge, I have the feeling your hands are no exception…"

Sebastian decided against making a joke about his genitals. "Not everyone can be small and dainty like you Princess."

"Ah, the meerkat speaks," Kurt smirked. "And who are you calling small? I'm only a few inches shorter than you."

He chuckled. "Why don't you get the white silk ones?" He motioned with his head. "They're perfect for your coronation."

Kurt smacked him lightly on the arm. "You are aware you are probably the biggest pain to shop with ever, right?"

He nodded with a smile.

"Then start trying on gloves so we can go meet Blaine and Carole."

Sebastian easily picked out a thick leather pair and dragged Kurt away before he could try to buy something for himself.

Once they left the store, Sebastian was happy to realize that the gloves and coat actually did keep him warm. He hadn't had a coat that did that in forever. It was wonderful.

They crossed the street and walked into the park, the air instantly clearing so that the smell of burnt rubber, gasoline, and other delightful city odors weren't so over powering.

They sat down on a bench as Kurt checked his phone for any texts from Blaine or Carole.

Carole said they would be a little late, an accident had clogged up the road.

The park was surprisingly empty, so Kurt took advantage of the seclusion and quiet to ask something that had been clawing at the back of his mind. "Hey, 'Bas?"

"Hmm?"

"When you were in the hospital, why did they let Blaine and I see you? We're not family."

He could feel the blood rushing to his face. "Most of my family is in France so I just lied and said you both were cousins."

"What about your parents?"

All the blood seemed to change its destination and he paled. "We aren't exactly… close. The last thing I wanted was for them to find out about this."

Kurt could tell there was way more to this then they weren't close. "Why? It's not like you asked for Danny to do what he did."

"They would've said I did."

Kurt could feel a theory forming. "They don't approve of you, do they?"

He laughed softly and rubbed his hands over the back of his neck. This was the last thing he wanted to talk about right now. "If by me, you mean my preference of dick over vagina, yeah."

"So what do you do during the holidays then?"

He shrugged. "We just stayed in the apartment."

"Do you have any siblings?"

He wished Kurt would stop. His hands were beginning to shake and he could feel his thoughts rushing around inside his skull like a caffeinated chipmunk. "An older brother. We aren't close either."

They sat in silence until Blaine and Carole arrived, the wind rushing along the trees and the buildings surrounding them.

Kurt knew there was nothing he could do. He couldn't just snap his fingers and make everything better. But dear God how he wanted to.

The quartet held friendly chit chat and weaved among the trees and concrete pathways, the recent problems melting away for a few seconds at a time.

Sebastian knew what was happening. He was enjoying himself. Something he hadn't been able to do for so long. Danny always tearing anything that made him happy from his life.

Kurt's nose was turning bright red from the cold kissing it and Sebastian felt his smile getting just a little bit bigger.

A jogger shoved past them and in their rush, almost knocked both of them to the ground before shouting out a word Sebastian didn't ever want to hear again.

The word his dad would scream in his ear went he was beating him, during the wee hours of the morning as the belt rained down mercilessly on his back. The word his brother would whisper in scorn whenever he'd see him in public. The word that made his mom flinch as though she had been slapped.

The word that had driven him to what he had been in high school and what he was now.

_"__-Goddammit son! Do you always have to be such a fucking fag-"_

"No."

_"__-You know why dad hates you Sebastian? Because you're a fag-"_

"No!"

"Seb? What is it?" He could feel a gloved hand caressing his bicep and gently leading him to a bench.

_"__-If you weren't always acting like a fag, I wouldn't have to hurt you-"_

"I'm sorry! Please, please," He dug the heels of his palms into his eye sockets and could feel his tear ducts leaking. This wasn't the place for a breakdown. What was wrong with him?

"'Bas, look at me," Kurt placed his hand beneath the lanky boy's chin and lifted it so they were looking eye to eye. Pieces of his heart were breaking away a chip at a time, the dejected look coating Seb's face making it hard for him to keep himself together. "What is it?"

He wiped at his eyes and tried to look down again, but Kurt's hand wouldn't move. "Nothing, nothing. I'm fine."

"Do you want to go home?"

Sebastian shook his head ferociously. "No, no. I just- I just need a minute."

Kurt looked over at his stepmother and his ex-boyfriend. "We'll catch up."

Blaine nodded in understanding and Carole offered him a sad smile.

Kurt took both of Sebastian's trembling hands in his own and felt Sebastian tense up before relaxing. "What's wrong?"

He blinked a few times. "What that jogger said-"

Kurt's face softened. "You know it's not true, right? Whoever called you it, they were just spewing bullshit."

He swallowed. "I can't believe I'm breaking down like this in a park."

"We don't have to stay-"

"That's the problem." Sebastian's voice was so low Kurt had to strain to hear him. "I don't want to go back to the apartment. I want to be able to go on a walk in a park in New York without having a breakdown because some homophobic asshole calls me a name. I want to be normal again Kurt, and I don't know how."

Kurt pulled the taller boy against him and felt as Sebastian's body shook. He rubbed his hands over his jutting shoulder blades and pressed his cheek against his hair. "And you'll be able to do that one day. But 'Bas, you need to give yourself time to heal. To recover from what he did to you. And I promise you, screw that, I _swear_ to you. I will be there for you every freaking step of the way."

Sebastian knew Kurt couldn't see his face, but he smiled at that.

Life certainly wasn't playing out the way he had imagined it would. His childhood, all those nights at Scandals, Danny, and all the other shit life had chucked at him. Uncertainty was most certainly not his favorite thing about life.

Actually, maybe it wasn't that bad. Sure, surprises had almost always been bad for him, but he did get one good wild card: the boy holding him right now. He knew that he had thought the same thing when he had been held in the arms of his future abuser but he knew this time was different. Kurt would never hurt him. And despite his notorious ways, he knew he would never hurt Kurt.

He felt a happy tear, one of bliss, fall down his nose and onto Kurt's shoulder. He could actually do this. He could shove Danny behind him and find someone to love him.

And maybe. Just maybe, he could be loved by someone like Princess.

###

**I know, I know! These two just need to get a grip and make out. And it's coming! Soon, I hope. Why must they both be so difficult?! Anyway, review, favorite, follow and all that jazz. Reviews make me update quicker and encourage me to write longer chapters more often! **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**~Ann**


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